


Mum's Best Friend

by BSloves1D



Series: Best Friend [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Closeted Character, Closeted Louis, Famous Liam, Famous Louis, Famous Niall, Famous Zayn, Gay, LGBTQ Character, Larry Stylinson Is Real, Multi, Non-Famous Harry, Out of the Closet Harry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2018-03-05
Packaged: 2018-11-16 18:24:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 50
Words: 60,008
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11258418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BSloves1D/pseuds/BSloves1D
Summary: A story where Anne goes to a coffee shop and happens to meet Jay.





	1. Chapter 1

The smell of bitter coffee fills Anne as she places her order at the cafe. The thanks them once again and takes a step back. Plastered on the walls are aesthetic pictures of tea, coffee, or biscuits. She notices the cafe wasn't as filled as it normally was, which was a relief. Dark-brown tables lined the walls and filled the space. Most having two or maybe four chairs. One of the walls was lined with brick whereas most were covered with near-black paint. 

"Your hair is gorgeous, where did you get it done at?" Anne turns and sees the woman standing next to her. Anne reaches up and lightly touches her hair, trying to remember what she had done with it that day. 

"Where? This shop in Homes Chapel. It's about a 45 minute drive from here," Anne answers. The woman gives an understand nod and they both awkwardly turn back towards the counter. Anne glances back towards the woman and notices her Louis Vuitton handbag. The bag was small, the color dark chocolate, and had cream handles. Anne was instantly jealous. 

"I love you're handbag," Anne whispers, not mustering a lot of confidence. The woman looks up at Anne and smiles. Anne watches as she opens her mouth to speak, but gets cut off by the sound of a number being called. Anne recognizes the number as hers. 

She goes to the cashier and grabs the drink after making sure it was her drink. She looks back where she was standing, hoping to find the woman she had been speaking to. She makes eye contact with her across the cafe in the corner. The woman waves her over, smiling. Anne looks over her shoulder and points to herself. She raises an eyebrow and the woman nods at her. Anne hurriedly makes her way over, trying not to look like she was as excited as she was. 

"Want to sit with me? I rather not look like a weird loner and I wouldn't mind the company," She says. Anne shrugs, taking the seat in front of the woman. It had been a while since Anne had made any new friends. She had been stressed with her job and helping her son through school. She had no clue how she was going to handle it all, but she had been doing fine so far financially. Anne was always one to fret about the small things, even if they didn't really matter. 

Anne takes the time to go over her features. Her hair was long and brown, hanging a little past her shoulders. Her bottom lip was plump and her eyebrows arched. The woman's eyes were blue, reminding Anne of the ocean. She looked familiar in a strange way that Anne couldn't place, but she shrugs it off. 

"I'm Johannah, but you can call me Jay," The woman introduces. 

"I'm Anne, but you can call me Anne," Anne replies. Jay laughs. Anne's slightly proud of herself from making her laugh. It wasn't very often that Anne got laughs at her jokes. Normally it was only her son, Harry, who would laugh. She was fine with that mostly, because they were both suckers for cheesy jokes. 

"So, Anne, you live in Homes Chapel?" Anne takes a sip from her drink and nods. It wasn't like Anne would walk around wearing anything with town's name on it, but she kind of proud to be from the small town. It had provided her kids with a good basis for knowledge and social education. In all honestly, she didn't have much to complain about.

"Yea. It's a nice place. It's a nice place to live, although it's rather small. How about you," Anne asks. Jay tucks a strand of hair behind her ear. Anne picks up her biscuit absentmindedly and dunks it into her drink, only to take a bite of it a moment later. 

"Doncaster. Any kids?" Jay was clearly not up for talking about herself. Anne notices that she didn't seem uncomfortable by the questions and she didn't cringe; she just tried to keep the focus on Anne. She didn't mind it that much though. 

"Yea, I have a 23 year-old daughter and a 20 year-old son. How about you?" Gemma, her oldest, had got her degree last year and is now a blogger. Her son, Harry, just finished his first year in university and she couldn't be prouder.

"I've got seven. My oldest is 22, 15, 13, 10, 10, and two four-month olds. Five girls and two boys and two sets of twins," Jay explains. Anne's mouth drops. Seven kids and she was still breathing? Anne had such a hard time with her two the thought of five more made her dizzy. 

"That's certainly a hand-full, how have you handled it? I'm sure you've done good so far," Anne says. Jay sighs loudly and take another sip from her drink. She thinks for a little bit before coming with a suitable answer. 

"I have no idea. My oldest helps out a lot, though. He's the sweetest and always calls me. I love him to death. I've been married twice and now I'm engaged. The wedding is planned for July!" Anne's face lightens up. Jay was getting married soon! 

"That must be so exciting!" Jay blushes lightly and shrugs Anne off. Anne loved weddings, in fact she loved a lot of social gatherings. She had always loved planning and designing weddings, well in her head anyway. Her own wedding, nearly a year ago that day, was small and she didn't invite a whole lot of people. However, she's always dreamed of going to or hosting a huge wedding. 

"Yea, we got a lot of things planned already, so there isn't much more to do." Jay pulls out her phone and glances at the time, "Well, I have to run, but it was a pleasure talking to you." Jay stands and grabs her bag. Before leaving, however, she turns to Anne. "I had such a great time talking to you, do you think it would be weird if I got your number so we can chat some more? We could become Cafe Buddies or something," Jay exclaims. Anne lights up. 

"No problem at all! I've had a great time talking to you too. Here, I'll write down my number for you that way you can get going," Anne says, scribbling down her number on a nearby napkin and handing it to Jay. Jay looks it over and smiles, shoving it into her big bag. Anne stands, figuring she better be on her way as well, when Jay brings her into a hug. 

"Again, such a great time talking to you. I'll text you," Jay calls as she exits the cafe. Anne laughs lightly, tossing her plastic cup in the bin.


	2. Chapter 2

Jay was overly excited to have met a new friend. It wasn't often that she found someone that seemed interested in her purely off of her personality. Most people nowadays wanted her for her son's fame or because she was 'famous'. To be honest, Jay hated using that word to describe anyone in her family. It felt wrong and too strange, she preferred to just think of her children as popular or known. She feels herself beaming as she enters the hotel room she had used for the weekend. 

Her son had just played a concert with his band in Manchester and invited her to come down. It was the closest they got to their hometown, Doncaster, so she had agreed. Doris and Ernest, her youngest, were too young to come to the concert. Her others had school the following day and she absolutely wasn't taking her kids out of school for a silly concert, even if it was their older brother playing it. 

It was nearly eight o'clock the morning following her son's concert and she figured she would give him a buzz. She pulls out her phone and remembers the napkin her friend had handed to Jay on her way out. She takes the napkin from her handbag and creates a new contact with her friend's name. She then goes to her favorites and clicks on her son's contact. 

"Hello?" Jay smiles as she hears her son's familiar voice. 

"Hello, Louis! You're concert was amazing! I loved it. The girls wished they could've come, but school and all," Jay sighs. She can hear Louis chuckling lightly in the phone. 

"Don't miss those days. So, we're about to get on the road again. Heading somewhere in Scotland I think, wait let me ask." Jay hears the distant sounds of people talking. She waits a moment longer before Louis gets back on. "Edinburgh, but then we're off to London. Hear it's like a three-hour car journey. Not as bad as some of the other stuff. How's everything going with you?" 

"I made a new friend," Jay announces proudly. She hears her son go silent on the other end.

"Really? How'd you meet?" 

"Well, I at the cafe and I look over and this woman has this really nice haircut, so I compliment it and then she said she liked my handbag, the Louis Vuitton one, and I invited her to sit with me while we had our drinks. We start yakking on about our lives and our children and such and she's so nice. I ended up getting her number so we could meet up again," Jay was overly pleased with herself. 

"Did she know...about me? You said you were talking about kids and you know how people get," Louis sighs. She knew how overprotective her son was of her, so she shouldn't have been surprised when he questioned her about it, but she couldn't help but feel a little hurt by it. 

"No, I just said I had a son and that you were 22. I didn't even tell her what you did for a living, in fact it never even came up," Jay huffs. She loved Louis to death, but sometimes it hurt hearing him say her friends were fake. It wasn't a lie, most of the friends Jay had made were purely there for her money and she had just finished cutting them out of her life. She just hoped that Anne wasn't like the others. 

~_~_~

Anne calls, "Harry! You won't believe what happened today!" She hears the sound of footsteps as her son waltz his way into the kitchen. He had his head in his phone, which was normal, only looking up after Anne coughed to get his attention. 

"What happened," Harry asks. He slips his phone into his back pocket and slides into one of the dining room chairs. 

"I meet this lady at the cafe up in Manchester and she was just the sweetest thing. She's raising seven kids and was married twice, engaged again to be married in July. I gave her my number so we can hang out more. I think she said she was from Doncaster, so it's a little out of the way, but I think we'll manage," Anne explains. She turns and sees her son's eyebrows furrowed. 

"What was her name?" 

"Johannah, but she goes by Jay. Like I said, sweetest little thing, she was," Anne sighs. She hears Harry make a strange noise and she turns to look at him. He looked as if he were in deep thought. 

"Did she happen to have two sets of twins?" Anne rethinks their conversation and stops as she realizes that the woman did, in fact, have two sets of twins. It was a strange thing to guess about someone. How did Harry know?

"Harry, you're freaking me out a little bit. How did you know that?" Harry frantically pulls out his phone and types something. Anne waits impatiently for her son to explain whatever the hell was going on to her. He turns his phone towards Anne and points at a picture taking up most of the screen.

"Is this the woman you met at the cafe?" Anne looks up at her son's face and tucks a strand of hair behind her ear before taking the phone from her son and bringing it to her face. 

The picture was a little older, but the woman face was the nearly the same. Jay and the woman here both shared the same plump lips and arched eyebrows. The blue eyes that looked every so familiar shinned brighter today than in the picture. Anne gasps. 

"Yea, how did you...what is going on," Anne sighs deeply. Her brain was trying to form some logical explanation for this, but nothing seemed to make sense. She watches as Harry pulls the phone back and types something else in. 

"I thought she sounded familiar. You know that...band I like, One Direction? Remember that guy I have a crush on, Louis? Yea well," Harry passes the phone to Anne. Anne takes in a sharp breath as she finally realizes why the blue eyes looked so familiar. 

The same blue eyes were plastered all over her son's walls. 

Jay was Louis' mother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so glad to see someone of you like this! I haven't exactly master this whole Ao3 thing (I write mostly on Wattpad) so excuse me if I make some mistakes. Thanks so much for reading and I really hope you enjoyed! ~B


	3. Chapter 3

** You **

_Hey! This is Jay. Just wanted to make sure you have my number :D_

** Cafe Buddy **

_Okay! Thanks so much!_

_I wanted to ask you something really quick. It's about a 2 hour drive from here to Doncaster. Besides Manchester is there anywhere else we can meet up?_

** You **

_There's Sheffield. It's about half-an-hour from me, but an hour-and-a-half for you._

_We could always just alternate and see how things go_

** Cafe Buddy **

_Sounds lovely._

_I have another quick little question._

** You **

_Okay_

** Cafe Buddy **

_My son has told me that you are Louis Tomlinson's mother. Is this true?_

** You **

_Yes. I didn't mean to keep it from you and I hope you don't see me in a different way then before_

** Cafe Buddy **

_Of course not!_

~_~_~

Anne tried to find as much time between being a Stay-At-Home Mom and a writer to text Jay. She was rather pleased with herself that she had managed to juggle the three. It had only been two weeks, but to the pair it felt like years. 

"So, turns out my book is going to launch sometime in October. I still have a few more chapters to finish, but that shouldn't take long. I'm so excited," Anne squeals. She found herself, more often than not, talked to Jay while she did her chores around the house. 

_"That's great! I'm excited for you! When do you want to meet up again?"_  Anne thinks for a moment before going over to her calendar. She looks across the next couple of days and sees the only day this week she was free was tomorrow. 

"The rest of my week is jam-packed, but I have most of tomorrow free. I can drive to Sheffield or you can come to Manchester. Either way is fine for me," Anne explains. She was jealous of Jay because Jay didn't really have to work anymore. Jay's son had insisted to help out more and pay the bills since he had the money.  Jay worked charity events and took care of her kids to keep herself busy. 

_"I can talk to Dan tonight. I'm sure it'll be fine, since school let out Lottie and Felicite have been helping out with the little ones,"_ Jay explains. 

"Okay, well text me where you want to meet up and I'll see you tomorrow!" 

_"For sure, bye."_  Anne pulls the phone from her ear and presses 'end call'. She was thrilled to get to see Jay tomorrow. Two weeks just seemed too long to go without seeing her friend. 

The following morning Anne gets a text from Jay telling her that Manchester would be fine. Anne felt a little bad for making the woman drive so far, but Jay insisted. They had agreed on meeting at the same cafe they had met in since they both already knew where it was. 

~_~_~

Anne found herself bouncing her leg in anticipation for her friend to enter. She had already ordered for Jay and herself, asking Jay beforehand what she would want. Their drinks had already been made and were sitting on the table. Anne had to keep herself from drinking from hers, because it was so tempting sitting right in front of her. 

The door opens and Jay walks in, she pulls her sunglasses from her eyes and pushes them back into her hair. She smiles widely as she sees Anne sitting at the same table in the back. 

Anne watches as Jay hurriedly makes her way over to the table. Anne stands and they hug quickly, both wanting to get in as long as conversation as they could. It was nice talking on the phone, but talking in person just felt nicer. 

"You look lovely and thank you," Jay sighs as she takes a seat and pulls her drink towards her. Anne nods and returns a compliment. 

"So, how are you and your kids. I wanna know," Anne says. She loved hearing about Jay's kids. All of them were so unique and did so many cool things it felt like something out of a story. Jay sips from her drink before starting. 

"Well, Doris and Ernest both got their first tooth last week which was very exciting. Fizzy has her first date coming up. Nothing really new with the twins or Lottie really. I do hear Lottie is having a slight falling out with her friends, but you know how teens are. Louis has a concert tonight in Stockholm, Sweden. All of the boys are taking pictures for me. Niall is so sweet and sends me tons of selfies, and Liam is more of a random picture here and there, but Zayn really gets the good ones of the landscapes and everything," Jay explains. Anne loved the way Jay's eye light up at the mention of her kids. You could tell they meant so much to her, even the boys from Louis' band. She saw them as her own kids as well. 

"Gemma is getting fairly close to a million followers on...Instagram I believe. Her blogging is starting to become really big. I'm not sure how she keeps up with it, but she does. Harry, well, he's just Harry. His fan account is getting really popular and uh--," Anne stops mid sentence. Jay raises an eyebrow in confusion. 

Anne's stomach drops. She couldn't believe she just told her friend that. Harry had made her promise she wouldn't tell a soul, but it had just slipped. Anne tries to think up a celebrity on the spot, but nobody comes to mind. 

"Harry has a fan account?" Anne could tell Jay looked a little on edge. She prays that Jay still wants to be friends with her after she tells her. 

"Yes, and he's actually getting a name for himself. He's one of the biggest accounts like his on Instagram and Twitter," Anne sighs. She couldn't believe she was telling her friend this. Anne tries not to let the guilt eat her as she imagines having to tell Harry. 

"Really, for what celebrity?" The room filled with tension as the question falls from her lips. It would've been easier if her son's account was just an update account, but it wasn't. The account also pushed one of the biggest and most controversial ships, she thinks they were called. From what Anne knew the two boys weren't actually dating, but they were dating. It was a very confusing thing Harry tried explaining way to many times. 

"Your son." 

"What's the account. I'll uh...follow him?" 

"You may not want to. He thinks that two of the boys are together and posts about it...like a lot. It's confusing and I try not to get into it." 

"What's the account? I won't follow him, but I at least like to talk to Louis and see if he interacts with him. Louis keeps up to date on some Louis accounts, but won't follow them."

"His account is DefendingLouis and he has like 43 thousand followers." 

"Yea, I know of him." 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!! What do you think of Harry's fan account? Yes this is off of DefendingLouis on instagram (I asked before using). What kind of experience do you think Jay has had with Harry on insta? Try to guess what ship it's going to be! Also: Thanks for all the positive feedback! I'm glad you guys are liking it! Thanks for reading! ~B


	4. Chapter 4

@DefendingLouis tweeted:

_Eleanor posted about Louis, but it doesn't matter. We know she doesn't deserve him. Get up, ur fine._

_reply  684 likes   256 retweets_

@Ripjaytd replied to @DefendingLouis tweet: 

_Tbh. We know she's a snake looking for cash, oops_

_reply  59 likes  12 retweets_

Harry rolls his eyes as he flicked his phone off and set it on the bed. He had a ton of followers on all of his platforms. It was nice sometimes, but other times he wished he could just go back to being a little fan account and not something everyone looked up to. He was one of the biggest Zouis accounts, so he became targets to antis and haters. 

Zouis was one of the biggest ships out of One Direction. Zouies made up about half the fandom, a fourth being Lilo shippers, and the last being made up of antis and hets. Hets were the ones that believed that everyone was straight in the band and shipped things like Zerrie and Elounor (Harry had no clue why, but they did). Lilo shippers were okay. Harry got in a couple fights with them, but they mostly stayed to themselves. 

Antis were the worse. Harry knew and acknowledged not everyone supported the idea of gay One Direction and he was fine with that, but some people took it too far. Antis would go out of their way to hate on everything Harry said, even if it wasn't Zouis related. They would get mad if he even suggested Eleanor and Louis weren't together (which, come on, he knew they weren't). He would rather write a 10-page paper on the importance of toothbrushes than deal with Antis. 

It made Harry's head hurt, thinking about it too much. He puts his phone down, debating on going downstairs to get some food, but his phone buzzes. Harry sighs, assuming it was his mutual messaging him. His eyes widen as he sees it's a notification from Louis' account. A new Louis selfie? Elounor material (Harry slightly throws up in his mouth at the thought)? He unlocks his phone and taps on the notification. Harry nearly drops his phone when he sees it's a...like? 

He clicks on the tweet and sees that Louis had liked his tweet. That couldn't be. It had to be fake. Harry does a quick search of everyone who liked his tweet and becomes even more confused when he finds now trace Louis had even been there. He clicks on his notifications and screenshots it, just in case it somehow disappeared. It must've been a quick like and unlike. Louis was known for doing stuff like that. 

The idea of food had slipped from Harry's brain as he finds himself absentmindedly scrolling down his Twitter page. He likes a few pictures and smiles at pictures of Zayn or Louis. He stops scrolling as Louis' mother's tweet appears. 

@JohannahDarling tweeted: 

_Had an amazing time with @MrsAnneStyles_

_reply  24k likes  17k retweets_

His mum? Harry knew that his mum was becoming friends with Johannah, but it hadn't completely sunk in yet. How was he supposed to believe that his favorite popstar's Mum was friends with his mum? That kind of stuff just didn't happen (outside of fanficition that is). He gives the tweet a like and then shuts off his phone. 

What would happen now? Would fans start following his mum? What if they managed to find a way to link Harry and his mum? He was so careful about not posting about his mother or sister in any way, purely because he didn't want to handle everything that would come with it. Now what? He finds himself getting sick as his mind starts wandering. 

~_~_~

"Niall!" Louis was laying across the couch on their tour bus. His head was in Zayn's lap and his feet lay next to Niall. He was scrolling through his phone while Zayn played with his hair, when he had stumbled on something he hadn't expected. 

"What," Niall sighs. Louis sits up abruptly, causing Zayn to frown. He brushes him off and shows Niall his phone. Louis watched as Niall read over the tweet his mother had sent out. 

"They just met and Mum's already tweeting about her? Who is she anyway?" Louis takes his phone back and sighs loudly as he taps the username. His eyes widen as he sees the woman already has 500K followers on her own. He knew the fandom worked fast, but this wasn't his fandom, he was sure of it.

He taps the profile picture and sees a photo of the woman, a girl, and a boy. Strangely, he recognized both the boy and the girl. He sighs and clicks off of it, who all followed the woman? He goes to 'followers you may know' and sighs as he sees some fan accounts, but nobody that screamed famous. He goes back to her profile, determined to figure out what it was that gave her this many followers. 

"Click on that," Niall reaches over a taps on a tweet. 

@MrsAnneStyles tweeted: 

_So proud of my wonderful @GemmaStyles_

_reply  3.3k likes  793 retweets_

"Who's Gemma Styles? She founds familiar," Louis whispers. Niall shrugs and gestures for him to click on it. He does, and it brings him to a verified account. The account has about a million followers and a simple bio. After a moment of staring, he figures out who she is. 

"She's one of those fashion bloggers my sisters follow." Niall takes the phone from Louis and goes through Gemma's photos. He sighs when he comes back with nothing. 

"Looks nice enough. I don't think you have too much to worry about Louis. Besides, your mum is a grown woman. I'm sure she can take care of herself," Niall explains. He sets the phone down and picks up his game controller. 

Louis knows Niall's probably right. Anne seems nice enough. It's a little relieving to know that her daughter has a bigger following; it means that there's a lower chance of Anne playing his mother. 

The boy, however, Louis is still curious about. He knows he's seen him somewhere, but he can't place where from. 


	5. Chapter 5

Gemma had came up from London for the weekend and Anne couldn't be more pleased. Originally it was just supposed to be a family weekend, but they were all getting antsy as Gemma's follower count was getting really close to a million. 

"Mum I think it's happening tonight, I can feel it in my bones," Gemma hums excitedly. They were all sat around the living room. They had meant to start up a film, but Gemma kept yelping as her followers inched closer to a million. So, they had given up and were instead sharing stories while they waited for Gemma to hit her goal. 

"We're proud of Gems," Robin, their stepfather, reminds her. Gemma blushes softly and glances back at her phone. Harry sighs loudly, obviously not content with just sitting around waiting for his sister to be hit a million. 

Sure, he was proud of his sister for building such a huge following without help, but it was boring just sitting around. His mother and Robin were always overly proud of what Gemma had done. She had made just a huge impact in the last few years, and Harry knew he could never do something like that. Compared to his sister, Harry always felt kind of...lesser. He knew it wasn't true, but how could he compete with a successful blog and, almost, a million followers?

"I'm like 20 followers away, do you think I'm going to hit it?" Harry rolls his eyes and pulls out his phone. He had never given his sister a shout out or even mentioned her to his followers, but he knew giving her a shoutout would boost her to what she needed and _maybe_ they could watch their film afterwards. 

@DefendingLouis tweeted:

_Go follow @GemmaStyles ! If you do I'll give you a follow back!_

Harry sends the tweet and glanced at Gemma. Harry tries to muffle the sound of the, nearly 200, likes that immediately follow. Gemma's face lights up and she squeals loudly. 

"I hit a million! I just got like a 100 followers out of nowhere! The Instagram gods must have sent them," Gemma squeals again and jumps up. She runs to her mother and engulfs her in a hug. Gemma pulls back and dashes to her room, probably to share the big moment with her fans. Anne glances to Harry and winks, knowing he had been the one to give the little push. 

Harry feels content knowing that  _someone_  acknowledged his hard work. He stands to go turn on the film, but his mother stops him. 

"I think we should throw a party for her. Nothing huge, but a little get together. She was supposed to be staying 'till Monday anyway. It's Friday now, maybe Sunday afternoon? I'm sure I can get everything set up by then for a small surprise thing," Anne suggests. Robin shrugs. 

"Sounds good to me. Well, I'm going up to bed. Night Harry," Robin gives Harry a small smile and Anne a kiss before heading towards his bedroom. Anne turns to Harry. 

"What do you think of having a small get together? We don't have to invite a lot of people, only a few. Most of Gemma's friends are in London, but she has some school friends 'round still. Could invite them, some of my friends of course, and  _oh_ I could invite the Deakins! That would be lovely, huh?" Anne's mind starts running as she imagines the get-together. 

"Sounds...great," Harry sighs. Anne raises from her chair and kisses the top of Harry's head. 

"Well, it's getting late, and if I'm going to do this I have to get up a little earlier." Anne smiles softly and heads off to her room, leaving Harry alone in the living room. So much for a film. 

He figures he should probably go to his room. He knew he wasn't going to go to sleep, so there was no point in even telling himself that. In all reality he would probably scroll through Instagram all night. 

He walks past Gemma's room and stops as he sees her playing on her phone. Harry had wanted to tell Gemma about his fan account for a while now and now seems...right. He brings his hand up to her open door and knocks on it lightly. 

"Can I come in?" 

Gemma looks up and smiles at Harry, "Sure, what's up?" She sits up to make room for Harry to sit on her bed like they used to. When they were younger Harry would always crawl into Gemma's bed and they would talk for hours about everything. It was nice to have a sister Harry could trust with things. 

"I have a fan account on Instagram and Twitter. I post about One Direction, but mostly Zouis. Those 100 followers, they weren't random. I gave you a shoutout on my account and...yea. I'm sorry for not telling you sooner," Harry explains nervously. Gemma takes his hands and forces him to look up. 

"Thank you, Harry. You don't need to be embarrassed or nervous or anything. Do you know how weird it was to tell Mum I was starting a blog about myself? I did, though, and I'm happy I did, because look where we are now!" 

"Anyway, how does it feel? Knowing that a million people out there are seeing your selfies on their feeds? What, do any celebrities follow you? I never check, but imagine that," Harry sighs. He didn't like talking about his fan account to people he knew, but it was nice to get it off his chest. 

"I don't know either, check on yours. What if one of your celebrities are following me. That would be funny, huh?" Harry rolls his eyes playfully, knowing that non of One Direction followed his sister. He was sure of that. 

He goes to her followers and scrolls a little. He stops when he sees someone he followed. His heart dropped and his throat got dry as he passes the phone to his sister. 

"Did you find someone," Gemma asks. She takes Harry's phone and clicks on the account. Gemma didn't know why Harry thought this account was so important, so she hands the phone back. 

"It's Lottie Tomlinson, she's Louis' sister," Harry explains. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just wanted to thank you for all the positive feedback on this story! Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed! ~B


	6. Chapter 6

It was Sunday and Anne was running around constantly trying to fix things to make sure the party was perfect. Harry didn't blame her, it would be the first time Anne had her newest friend to their house. The Deakins were more than excited to spare a Sunday to come, and at first, Anne was excited, but then the reality of it set in. 

"Harry, does my hair look nice? Does it look like I've been running around all day?" Harry had been helping his mother out by blowing up balloons, but she kept pestering him so he only had a few done. 

"You look wonderful," Harry sighs, not looking up. Anne grumbles and taps her son's shoulder. Harry looks up, clearly a little on-edge. The only reason he was on-edge was because his mother was on-edge. The feeling was similar to the 'if mom's mad, everyone's mad' phrase that Harry used a lot to explain their family. 

"I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. This is the first time they will be here and I really want to make a good first impression," Anne sighs. "How are you feeling about that? Must be weird, huh? You idolize this lad for years and then your mum bumps into his mum at the cafe. Now, you're meeting his family. If you feel uncomfortable doing this you can stay in your room," Anne suggests. 

It was true, Harry was extremely nervous. Ever since he found out his mother was friends with Johannah he's been trying to get out of the head space that she was Louis Tomlinson's mother. He knew Louis hated it when fans saw him as famous or didn't treat him like a normal person and he was trying, but it was all so weird. Harry had read fanfiction where Louis was having sex and now he's just supposed to look his mother in the eye and pretend he hasn't been thinking of fucking her son for years? He shivers at the thought. 

"Gemma, no!" Harry turns and sees the door to the garden open. Gemma was now stood at the door, looking across the decorated garden. 

"What's going on?" Gemma looks from Anne to Harry. Harry pathetically lets the finally '0' of a million go, the numbers held to the ground with rocks. 

"Robin, It was supposed to be your job to keep her inside and away from the windows while we set up!" Gemma turns to Robin, who stood at the door with a defeated expression.

"I tried, but she wanted to grab something. I tried to distract her," Robin sighs. Anne huffs, massaging her forehead with her hand. The surprise was ruined. This was supposed to be a surprise party, but now it was just a party. 

"Surprise," Harry mumbles as she starts blowing up another balloon. 

~_~_~

"They're here! Act natural everyone and Gemma please go inside the house and at least pretend you were surprised," Anne begs. It was a few hours later and the party was all set up. Anne hadn't invited a lot of people, and besides the Deakins, there were only a few of Gemma's school-friends who agreed to show up. Johannah had just texted saying they were there and Anne was extremely nervous. 

"Fine," Gemma grumbles as she heads back in the house and towards her room. Anne had put up balloons around the fence so people knew where to come in at. Anne does one last check before opening the gate to reveal the Deakins. 

Harry's breath catches. There they were. The family of his favorite celebrity was now standing in his garden. He scans over the faces of the star's siblings. He never realized just how tall Fizzy was. Of course he knew she was only a little shorter than Harry, but it never set in how much taller that would make her than her family. Lottie looked almost child-like in comparison.

"Harry, come say hi to the Deakins," Anne calls. 

"Tomlinsons actually. The only one becoming a Deakin is Mum," Fizzy explains quietly. Harry hears the small trace of bitterness in the 13 year-olds voice. Nonetheless, Harry stands and walks towards the group. 

"So you're the famous Harry I keep hearing about! You're curls are even curlier than in the pictures," Johannah teases. She brings him into a hug and Harry tries not to freak out. He takes in a few shaky breathes before moving away. 

"Nice to meet all of you," Harry sighs. He runs a hand through his hair nervously as his mother allows them in. Almost immediately the oldest twins run off to play with the balloons. Harry tries not to laugh at the energy-filled 10 year-olds. 

He takes a seat at the table he was sitting at before they arrived. He pulls out his phone and takes a few pictures of the table to post to his fan account later. He liked to post good selfies and cool pictures every now and again for the fun of it. Harry kept the pictures that didn't have the Tomlinsons in it, that way he wouldn't have to explain anything if he accidentally posted it. He hadn't even told his followers his sister was Gemma, he assumed some would put two and two together after his tweet, but he shrugs it off. 

He opens his Instagram app and uploads a picture of the table and selfie he had took earlier that morning. Harry finds himself scrolling through his feed. He stops at an absolutely breath-taking picture of Louis. His hair was beautifully styled and his smile was heart-stopping. The sleeves of his sweater was pulled up a little, revealing a few of his tattoos. His face looked so smooth and Harry wanted nothing more than to touch him. He smiles and sighs softly as he likes the picture. 

"What you doing?" Harry jumps, nearly dropping his phone as the person speaks. He turns and sees Lottie standing behind him. She wore a short dress and boots, her hair hanging past her shoulders.

"Taking pictures. It's not everyday your sister reaches a million followers," Harry sighs. He clears his throat and awkwardly puts his phone down. She shrugs and takes the seat next of him. 

"So, I hear you're a fan of my brother," Lottie hums. She glances down at her nails and then back up at Harry, giving him a small smirk. Harry wasn't quite sure what to say to that. He defiantly didn't want to talk about his fan account to Lottie or his obsession of her brother. It was weird just sitting next to her.

"Yea, uh...some would say that. They're music is good, yep really...great music," Harry mumbles. It felt almost hard to breath as he tries to turn the conversation in a different way, "So uh...plan on going anywhere this summer?" 

"Yea, I'm going to go to America to see Louis in concert. Have you ever been to a One Direction concert?" Harry shakes his head and glances over to the house, trying to find an escape plan. He takes back all those times where he wished he could be friends with the family, because just sitting here made him want to vomit. 

"I better go check on Gems," Harry says hurriedly. He stands and grabs his things before heading towards the house and finally breathing a sigh of relief.


	7. Chapter 7

"Harry? What're you doing hiding in here? Come out and enjoy the party," Anne says. Harry had been hiding in the house from the Deakins, too scared to talk to them in fear they would bring up Louis. He also didn't want to seem like the super fan that he obviously was.

"Fine," Harry mutters. He follows his mother out of their house and to their table. Anne was sitting with Johannah and Dan. Phoebe and Daisy were playing with their younger siblings somewhere else. Lottie was now following Gemma around like a lost dog, but Harry figured Gemma liked the attention.

"So, Harry, you're Mum tells me you write," Johannah starts. Harry gulps. He knew he was going to have to stop telling his Mum things. The only thing Harry wrote was fanfiction about Louis and Zayn and that wasn't exactly something he wanted to bring up with Louis' mum. 

"Yea...um I write a little."

"What is that you write, Anne never mentioned." Harry wishes to disappear. He wanted to just evaporate and pretend like none of this was happening. He turns to his mother, hoping she would cover for him since she was the one to get him in this mess. Anne seems to get the message.

"Harry I'm sure you're bored of this adult chat, why don't you go hang out with one of the girls," Anne suggests. Jay only looked a little puzzled as Harry excuses himself from the table. He wonders back to his original seat, hoping nobody approached him.

He pulled up the conversation with his internet best friend. He was wary at first to tell her about the whole Louis Tomlinson thing, but he needed to talk to someone about it.

****DefendingLouis:** **

****Yo. I need to talk to you. It's super important.** **

Harry wasn’t surprised when his friend answered nearly immediately.

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****Whats up?** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****Ur going to think Im crazy, but the Tomlinsons are at my house****.

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****Stop messing with me. u are messing with me right?** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****No. My mum through a party and turns out shes friends with Jay.** **

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****Ur gonna have to prove it, bc I dont believe you.** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****_You sent a video_ ** **

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****This has to be a joke. Take another with you in it. I wanna make sure ur not messing with me.** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****_You sent a video_ ** **

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****Holy shit.** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****Exactly! Im freaking out. What do I do? Lottie literally keeps bringing up Louis and I think Im gonna die.** **

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****Do you know what this means? UR GONNA MEET LOUIS FREAKING TOMLINSON.** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****Not necessarily. This is so weird and idek if I will. Since hes on tour right now Im probably not.** **

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****I cant believe this. Are they going to follow you? They cant. Ur a super Zouie. People will start thinking it’s real. Wait. We could finally find out if Zouis real.** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****No! Im not asking him if it’s real. Do you know how weird that is?** **

**** RipJayTD: ** **

****Doesnt matter. We already know Zouis is real.** **

**** DefendingLouis: ** **

****Duh.** **

“Who’s RipJayTD?” Harry jumps and, for the second time today, nearly drops his phone. He turns around and sees Lottie giving him a huge smile.

“A friend,” He answers simply.

“What does her username mean? Did someone die?”

“I don’t know. She’s…weird, but in a good way. You didn’t like…read my messages, did you?” Lottie raises an eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Hiding something super-secret? What’s Zouis,” Lottie questions. Harry's heart dropped. She had to know what Zouis was. Zouis shippers took up most the fandom. Most of them had flooded all the family’s comment sections, Harry didn’t personally believe in that, but it did happen. There was no way in hell Lottie didn’t know what Zouis was.

“You know what Zouis is,” Harry mumbles.

“Yea, you’re right. Zouis is the ship between my brother and Zayn. Totally fake and an utter waste of time if you ask me. Louis’ happily dating Eleanor,” Lottie explains.

Harry couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Lottie had just denied Zouis. He had a small voice in the back of his head telling him that 'of course she denied it, it wasn’t like she would just spill the beans to him'. However, looking at her, she looked like she was telling the truth. Harry couldn’t except it, he wouldn’t. Eleanor was so fake even other celebrities mentioned how fake it looked and Harry didn’t want to think about the possibility that Louis was dating someone else in the band. Zayn and Louis had matching tattoos and were always near each other. There was no way it could be fake and maybe it had something to do with Harry not wanting to admit he was wrong whenever he got into fights about it. 

“Did you come over here for any particular reason?” Harry wanted desperately to change the subject. Lottie shrugs and takes the seat next to him.

“Just looking for a conversation. I already hang out with my siblings all day and your sister isn’t in the mood to talk and everyone else here is like…super old. You’re the only one here even close to my age, besides Fizzy,” Lottie explains.

“Oh, so uh…how’s school?” Lottie groans.

“I don’t want to talk about school while I’m on break. Just imagine I’m one of your friends, what do you talk about with them. You do have friends, right?” Harry glares at her. Everyone assumed that just because Harry stanned a band that he didn’t have friends, which was obviously wrong. He had internet friends.

“Most of my friends are in my phone and we talk about…uh music,” Harry says, not quite sure of himself.

“My brother’s music? The last thing I want to do is talk about my brother either. You think he’s some big thing and all that, but seriously try living under the same roof as him. He’s a complete slob, he eats all the food—and he doesn’t even cook—, and his farts are so disgusting I probably need a gas mask.” Harry furrows his eyebrows. Louis couldn’t be that bad, right? He knew that the boy was a slob, but most boys were. He also knew that Louis ate and never cooked (a Zouis interview had confirmed that).

“He sounds charming,” Harry jokes. Lottie holds back a laugh.

“Can I follow you on Instagram? I’m sure you’re already following me, but I could follow you back and we can chat more?” Harry gulps. He tries to politely decline, but Lottie snatches his phone, unlocks it, and finds his username. "You probably need a new username, because Louis' birthday is not hard to guess." A moment later Harry gets a notification that Lottie had followed him.

“You know that everyone is going to think Zouis is real…right?” Lottie shrugs.

“Doesn’t matter, we’re friends now and friends follow friends.” 


	8. Chapter 8

** LouisT91: **

**Hows the party? Lame?**

** LottieTomlinson:  **

**Eh. Its alright. Got to talk to Gemma though**

** LouisT91:  **

**Thats the sister that hit 1 mil right?**

** LottieTomlinson:  **

**Yea. She seems nice. Her brother is cute**

** LouisT91: **

**Oh yea? How old is he?**  

**LottieTomlinson:**

**I didnt ask him!**

** LouisT91:  **

**Youre 15, Lott, hes probably older**

** LottieTomlinson: **

**He looks young. You just dont want me dating. How was the show in Paris?**

** LouisT91:  **

**Good crowd. Now stop avoiding the conversation. Send a pic of him or something.**

** LottieTomlinson:  **

**_You sent a picture_ **

** LouisT91:  **

**Lott hes like 20!**

** LottieTomlinson: **

**Shut up. Hes a fan of you btw**

** LouisT91:  **

**Ik. He believes in that thing between me and Z**

** LottieTomlinson: **

**wym you know?**

** LouisT91:  **

**Ive had a few run ins with him and his account**

** LottieTomlinson:  **

**You did?**

** LouisT91:  **

**Not me, but Eleanor did. She told me the fan was talking shit about her and got all upset. Idk it was a while ago. Doesnt matter now ig**

** LottieTomlinson:  **

**Oh. He seems nice tho. I followed him.**

** LouisT91:  **

**You didnt. Please tell me ur joking. Z is already pissed about it, y cant you just keep out of my life? Now everyone is gonna think its real. Come on Lott you know better than that!**

** LottieTomlinson: **

**Thats his problem. Harry is my friend.**

** LouisT91: **

**Yea, but if you cared about me at all you wouldnt have done that. Thanks a lot Lottie. I gtg.**

** LottieTomlinson:  **

**Sorry Louis. ttyl?**

** LouisT91: **

**Idk**

Louis was pissed. He asked all his siblings to stay off of his fans accounts and stay away from them countless times. He knew how his fans observed every little thing he did, so he couldn't have his siblings going around and doing careless things like this. Lottie following this guy's account wasn't a good thing. People would think that Louis' relationship with Zayn was real if she followed the account. 

Louis sighs and goes to his search bar, hoping that nobody was talking about it. He knew deep down that they were, but he was in denial. He types in the first letter of the username and the account is the first thing to come up. He clicks on the icon. 

He goes the to most recent post (which happened to a picture of the lad) and clicks on the comments. He sighs loudly as he sees it's flooded with 'Lottie followed' and 'OMG CONGRATS'. He closes his eyes and prays it isn't real, but when he opens his eyes again, it's still there. 

He turns to Zayn, who sat at the table a few meters from Louis. He prays he doesn't see it. Zayn had always let the rumors get to him. Louis wasn't as bothered by the rumors because he knew that Zayn and him were dating, but Zayn cared too much. He never knew why it was so terrible for people to think Zayn was gay, because Louis never saw anything bad about it. It got annoying after a while fighting the comments about his girlfriend being fake, sure, but other than that it didn't bother him. Zayn had threatened to stop being friends with Louis if the rumors didn't stop, but it wasn't like Louis could control it. 

"Zayn, something happened and I need to talk to you," Louis says. He knows he needs to tell Zayn before Zayn finds out on his own. He would rather let Zayn get his anger out now instead of Louis being fearful of when he would find out, because he always did. 

"What's up?" Zayn sets his phone down and turns towards Louis. Louis scans his friend's face, praying that he wouldn't take it badly. 

"Lottie did something stupid. There's this account on Instagram that posts about uh...us and Lottie uh...she followed it. Don't worry! I already talked to Lottie and she said she would take care of it," Louis explains. Zayn sucks in a deep breath and groans loudly. 

"Come on, Louis! You said you wouldn't let shit like this happen. I can't have this gay rumors coming at me all the time. I'm engaged to be married, Louis, and Perrie shouldn't have to deal with shit like this. She shouldn't have to be worry about me being a closet faggot," Zayn snaps. Louis feels himself starting to tear up, but he pushes the feeling down. 

"Zayn don't use that word. Just because you don't want to have gay rumors about you doesn't allow you to use it. If Perrie really trusted you then she shouldn't be worried about the rumors, because that's all they are. You act like this is all my fault when it's not! We're famous, Zayn, and famous people get shit written about them! You don't see Liam getting all strange whenever an article comes out claiming I'm fucking him, do you? No, you don't! If you can't be my friend because of this then fine, I don't want your shitty version of a friendship," Louis snaps. He couldn't handle it any longer. 

"Why does the word bother you so much, huh? Is it because you are a closet faggot? I wouldn't be surprised. Liam doesn't worry about it because it's probably true. You two probably bone each other and then act all straight, huh? You act like you love Eleanor and all that, but don't worry, we all know who you really are. I don't wanna be friends with a gay guy like you anyway, so do us all a favor and shut the hell up." Zayn stands and goes towards his bed, pulling the curtains closed when he gets there. 

Louis collapses in on himself, feeling the tears as they drip down his soft cheeks. He hears approaching footsteps and sees Liam. He cries even harder, feeling terrible. He shouldn't have let Zayn talk about Liam like that. He cries harder as Liam brings Louis into his arms. 

"It's okay, Louis, he's just in a bad mood. Zayn will come around eventually. He's just mad that he has people doubting him all the time. There's absolutely nothing wrong with liking boys either, Lou. Niall and I will support you no matter what. Go on and let those tears out. I'm here, I gotcha," Liam whispers. 


	9. Chapter 9

**Jay!:**  

_Would you like to go wedding shopping with me? I have a few things I want to go shopping for_

** You: **

_Really? That sounds lovely!_

** Jay!: **

_Can you be in Manchester by noon?_

** You: **

_Sure! Can't wait!_

It was a few minutes before noon and Anne found herself pulling into the car park of their cafe. She looks around the lot and spots Jay's car a few spots down from hers. Anne picks up what little things she had and hurries over to Jay's car, excitement filling her as she gets in. 

"Sorry that this is so last minute. I knew I had to come to Manchester to take care of a few things and I figured it would be better if I had a friend with me. I hope you didn't have to cancel anything," Jay apologizes. Anne waves her off. 

"Absolutely not, it's no big deal. I didn't have any plans for today anyway, so I'm actually glad you called. What all are we going to be up to," Anne asks. Jay visually relaxes when she realizes she didn't cause Anne any fuss. She already felt bad enough knowing her son's tour was being put on hold for her wedding. 

"Well, I need to get a few wedding favors for everyone in the wedding and I just want to shop a little too," Jay say. 

"Who all is in your wedding party if you don't mind me asking?" 

"Lottie, Felicite, and Eleanor. We're trying to keep it family oriented," Jay explains. Anne goes over the names in her head trying to remember who Eleanor was. She was familiar with Lottie and Fizzy, of course, but Eleanor wasn't someone she quite remembered.  

"I feel so bad, but would you remind me who Eleanor is? She must've just slipped my brain." 

"Eleanor is Louis' girlfriend. They've been dating for about 3 years now, I believe. We treat her like family," Jay sighs. Anne could tell something was troubling her friend. Most parents loved to talk about their children and their future partners, but Jay didn't seem interested in discussing it. Anne figures Jay probably didn't like her as much as she let on. 

"That's nice. My son, Harry, hasn't had a boyfriend in years. I'm not going to be the parent that pressures him into getting one, but it would be nice to have grandchildren before I'm 60," Anne jokes. Harry came out as bisexual in secondary school, but only recently came out as gay. Anne couldn't be more proud of her son for coming out and was fully supportive of him. 

"So Harry's gay?" 

"Yeah, and we're all very accepting of him. I always want my children to know that I will be there for them no matter what," Anne explains. She can still remember the moment Harry came out and the smile on his face would never be something Anne would forget.

"Did you know he was gay before he came out? I hear parents talk about having a feeling or just knowing that their child is homosexual before they come out," Jay asks. Anne was slightly surprised by Jay's interest in Anne's experience as a parent of a gay child. Anne didn't mind answering the questions at all, especially for her friend. 

"Well, it's not like I knew, but you get ideas. Harry never had female childhood crushes and never talked about girls growing up. He talked about having a girlfriend once in primary school, but it ended pretty quickly. We're also fairly close and being around him and knowing him I knew he wasn't telling me something. I don't think anyone  _truly_ knows except them." Johannah nods, but doesn't say anything. 

After a short moment of silence they start chatting about the wedding and discuss ideas for party favors. It was harder for Jay because her wedding party happened to be her children. Most of what Anne had saw on Pinterest were made for adults or young adults. Jay had decided on getting a bag with cosmetics in it. 

They decide to go into Ulta and come up with a few ideas in there. "How about nail colors? You could get them to match your wedding theme," Anne suggests. Jay lights up and joins Anne. They pick out three lilac nail colors for the girls. Jay throws in two extras for the twins not wanting them to feel left out of the fun. 

The pair went around a few more shops and bought a few more things to put in the gift bags. Jay was feeling a lot less stressed knowing she got one more thing marked off her never-ending list of things to do before the wedding. Just thinking about the list gave Johannah headaches. 

They were on their way back to the cafe so Jay could drop Anne off when Anne speaks up. "I was thinking of hosting a dinner for you one night before the wedding. I just want to give you one stress-free night that you don't have to cook or worry about. Robin, Harry, and I can drive up the afternoon before and set up and cook for you." Anne had been thinking about hosting a dinner party with the Deakins for a while and with the whole wedding coming up, Anne assumed Jay would want a night off from the stress of it all. 

"I would have to look at my schedule and talk to Dan about it, but that sounds lovely. I would love for you to meet Louis and Eleanor before the wedding. Louis gets back into town the 14th and I'm sure he's going to be tired. Eleanor is coming over the 15th to have a welcome-home party for him. I'm sure you could come the 16th or 17th, but I still have to talk to everyone about it," Jay explains. 

"Sounds like fun. I can't wait for our sons to meet. Wouldn't it be great if they became friends? It would give us a reason to hang out more," Anne laughs. 

"Like we need a reason to hang out more," Jay jokes back. Anne thanks Jay one last time as she leaves her car to head back home. When she gets back to her car she immediately pulls out her phone to text her son. 

** You: **

_Guess who's the best Mum ever?_

**My Baby Boy** **:**

_You!_

** You: **

_Yep, because you're probably going to get to cook for/meet Louis Tomlinson in a few weeks!_

**My Baby Boy** : 

_Oh. My. God. I love you so much. Do I tell you that enough? You're my favorite Mum!_

** You: **

_Better!_

_On my way home now. Love you!_


	10. Chapter 10

Louis had just finished the European leg of the tour. He couldn't be more excited to be home and in an actual bed. It was a five-hour flight from Portugal (his last tour stop) to Leeds and then an hour long car journey from Leeds to Doncaster. It was well past midnight when Louis had gotten home and the only thing he wanted to do was sleep. 

He had already found his way upstairs and to his bedroom. He was thankful his mother let him stay at the family house between tour legs. He had three weeks off before he had go back and start the North American leg of the tour. His mum wanted to take advantage of their time together while they had it, which is why they kept the guest room open as Louis' room. 

Louis falls on the bed and sighs loudly. It was nice being here instead of being on the bus. Don't get him wrong, Louis loved going on tour and loved spending time with his best mates, but after a while it got tiresome and he had already done two tours, this being his third. He felt bad about complaining, but he was worried if this kept up any longer he would run out of energy. 

"Hey, Babe." Louis turns and sees his girlfriend standing at the door of the room. His eyes graze over her. Her hair was longer, but was still the same brown that it was before. She wore a pair of shorts and a tank-top. His heart clenched as he saw her. 

"Hey, E," Louis sighs. He sits up and looks at her. She closes his bedroom door and turns the lights off, leaving only the glow of his lamp to light the room. She pulls off her shirt and joins him in his bed. 

"How was tour?" He was so over talking about the tour. He didn't want to hear, think, or see anything about it for the next three weeks. 

"Fine." 

"Well, I'm glad you're back. I missed you a lot, you know. Seven weeks is too long to go without seeing your handsome face," She giggles. She reaches up and touches the side of Louis' face, causing him to turn towards her. Eleanor glances over his face before kissing him lightly. "Why don't we catch up a little bit? My body has been missing you," She whispers. She traces her hand down his stomach. Her hand slips under his shirt, but before she can go to remove it, Louis grabs her hand and pulls it away. 

"I love you, El, and I missed you a lot, but I'm really tired. I haven't had a proper sleep in ages. Besides, we'll have plenty of time for that later," Louis promises, kissing her on the side of her face. He notices her slight pout, but he shrugs it off. 

"Can we cuddle at least? I just want to be near you." Louis feels bad, he really does. He hated disappointing Eleanor, but he wanted to be alone. He didn't want to keep up a conversation or be near anyone. He wanted privacy. 

"Look, I'm not trying to be a dickhead, but I really want some alone time, yea? I've been stuck on a bus with three other guys for seven weeks. The only place I can get some privacy is the bathroom, and that's even if someone doesn't walk in on you," Louis explains. Eleanor stays still for a moment, but then slowly gets up. 

"Fine, okay. I'll just go home and come back tomorrow morning. I...uh love you," Eleanor sighs quietly. Louis' stomach clenches as he sees Eleanor pick up her forgotten shirt and pull it back over her head. 

"Love you too, El, see you tomorrow?" She nods and heads out of his room, keeping a small crack of the door still open. Louis sighs loudly and pulls a hand through his hair. 

He didn't want to feel bad, but he did. Eleanor had been there for him since day one and he really did love her. He always felt bad leaving her for so long because of the band, but there wasn't much control he had over it. He had thought about breaking up with her just so he didn't have to break her heart because he was always away for so long, but the thought was always forgotten when she would kiss him or when he would make her smile. 

"Why is Eleanor leaving? I figured you would want her to stay the night." Louis looks up and sees his mum standing at the door. She walks over to his bed and sits on the end of it, rubbing Louis' leg. 

"I just...I've been around people for so long the last thing I want to do is be with anyone. I just want to sleep and feel rested. I didn't mean to make her feel bad, but she kept wanting to cuddle or talk or have se--other things. I don't know, Mum, I'm just tired," Louis explains. She gives him a small smile. 

"Louis, we all have missed you. It's hard for Eleanor, because she has to go weeks on end without seeing you. Sure, you Skype, but video-chatting isn't as real as being with someone. She just wants to be with you and I'm sure tomorrow she'll be fine. Now, I know you're sick of hearing this, but tell me how the other guys are doing. How's Zayn? You haven't talked about him at all since you've been here and you normally never shut up about him." 

"We got into a fight. Remember that party you went to about three weeks ago? I told Zayn that Lottie followed that guy and he got really pissed. He went off on me about how I'm probably gay and started calling me a fag and stuff. We haven't really talked since," Louis explains. Jay's eyebrows furrow and she brings her son into a hug. 

"Well, on Wednesday, we're having Anne come over with her son and husband. They offered to cook a meal for us to help get our minds off the wedding. Now, I'm asking you to try and be friendly towards their son, okay? He was so sweet at the party and hasn't posted about us anywhere. I'm sure he's really lovely, so give him a chance," She says. Louis rolls his eyes. 

"Fine, but if anything about Zayn or this ship comes up I'm leaving." 

"That's fair enough. Thank you, Louis. I'll get out of your hair now. Get some sleep, okay? I love you." 

"Love you too."


	11. Chapter 11

Harry was nervous. He was standing at Louis Tomlinson's door holding a tray of lasagna and the only thing he wanted to do was run. He had imagined this moment for years and he thought he would be more excited, but he actually felt like vomiting.

"Hi! Come in, come in! You all look great," Jay greets. The whole family was standing by the door, including Louis. Harry's eyes glanced over to Louis and they held eye contact. He couldn't believe the knots forming in his chest as he looked over the pop-star for the first time in person. Louis was wearing a sweater and jeans and Harry felt like he would pass out from cuteness overload.

Harry followed his mother and step-dad into the house. "I have some lasagna already cooked. I need to bake the bread and finish the salad, but after that I think we'll be ready to eat," Anne explains.

"I'll show you to the kitchen. Phoebe and Daisy, why don't you two go to your rooms, yea," Jay offers. Phoebe and Daisy both nod and run off to their rooms. Harry looks around and takes a seat on the sofa as the Tomlinson kids all make their way back to their rooms, leaving Louis and Harry in an awkward silence in the sitting room.

"So... how was tour?" Harry had no clue how to talk to the boy. He had been preparing all week for this. He had been trying his best to picture Louis as 'the boy next door' and not a pop-star he had been crushing on for years. He even went to the extent of covering his posters with picture of Ryan Gosling, so he didn't even have to look at Louis' face.

"I'm not doing this with you," Louis starts. Harry watches as Louis leans back into the couch and looks up at the ceiling. Harry felt his heart drop.

"Doing what?"

"You know what. I'm not going to talk to you casually when I know that you think all these crazy things about me. I'm not doing it," Louis huffs. Harry brings a hand to his hair, trying to figure out a compromise. If he didn't do something soon, he was sure that Louis would hate him forever. He had to fix this.

"Can you at least pretend you like me? Our mums are best friends and it'll crush them if they know we hate each other," Harry throws out. He knew how much Louis cared about his mum and hoped to hit a sweet spot with the older boy. Louis furrows his eyebrows in deep concentration.

"If you stop posting about me and Zayn being in a relationship then I'll at least try to be your friend, but if I see anything about Zouis or whatever then I'm unfriending you," Louis warns. Harry relaxes and sighs.

"Okay, that's doable. So... friends," Harry asks. Louis hesitates before breaking into a small smile.

"Friends."

~_~_~

Dinner had been manageable so far. Harry had stayed mostly silent and let everyone else do the talking, but Lottie would not shut up about him. As soon as a conversation ended Lottie would find a way to bring Harry up. It wasn't like he was upset about it (okay maybe a little), but he didn't like having the attention on him.

"Did you know that Harry can sing?" Everyone at the table seems to sigh loudly as Lottie states another fact about Harry. Harry blushes and bites off a piece of bread before anyone forces him to sing.

"Lottie, Harry obviously doesn't like and probably doesn't appreciate you listing off random ass facts about him, alright? Jesus I'm sick of hearing about it at this point," Louis snaps. Lottie's eyebrows furrow as she shoots her older brother daggers. Everyone else at the table was awkwardly staring at Louis after his outburst.

"You're just mad because Harry ruined your friendship with Zayn. I'm leaving," Lottie huffs. She pushes her chair back and storms off to her room. Jay yells after her, demanding her to come back to the table, but she doesn't.

"Can we leave too," Phoebe and Daisy ask in unison. Jay rubs her temples and sighs loudly.

"No, you may not leave," Jay sighs. Harry glances at Louis and sees anger written across his face. Harry had only seen the expression a few times. His heart dropped to his knees as Louis forcefully kicked his chair back and stormed to his room too.

"I'm sorry I ruined dinner," Harry whispers. He could feel the tears threatening his eyes.

Had he really ruined Louis and Zayn's friendship? Antis and Hets told him that he had constantly, but Harry never believed him. He was so sure that Zouis was real, but now he wasn't. Lottie wouldn't have said that if it was true. Harry had heard Lottie confirm that Eleanor and Louis were really dating. Had he been wrong this whole time? Had he hurt one of the only people he really cared about? Harry chokes back a sob at the thought.

"Can I go and see if he's okay," Harry asks. Anne gives a small nod and Harry stands. He carefully makes sure all his trash was seated neatly on his plate, not wanting to cause the poor family anymore hassle.

He quietly heads down the hallway. He notices all the doors had one of the kids' names on it. He finds himself standing in front of the door with 'Louis' written across it. Louis' signature smiley face was drawn onto the door and Harry traces over it gently before bringing his hand up to the door and knocking.

"Leave me alone Lottie," Louis calls. Harry's heart clenches as he opens the door and peeks his head in. He didn't want to bother Louis if he was too upset. He sees Louis sitting on his bed with his arms folded across his chest.

"It's just me," Harry murmurs. Louis doesn't say anything to him, so Harry inches into the room and shuts the door behind him. "Did I really ruin you and Zayn's friendship?" As the words leave Harry's lips he finds a tear tracing its way down his cheek. Louis looks up at him, his face melting into something soft.

"Are you crying? No, don't cry! Come here," Louis moves to the end of the bed and opens his arms. Harry wipes his eyes before walking into Louis' embrace.

They don't say anything. Louis cradles Harry's head as Harry snuggles his way into Louis' lap. Harry cries silently, the dread of the situation falling on him as he realizes what he had been doing for the last couple years.

"Shhh, it's okay, Harry. It's okay, I've got you. Don't cry, Louis' got you. If you keep this up I'm gonna start crying, too," Louis whispers. Harry lets out another sob at Louis' caring tone. How had he done such terrible things to Louis? Harry should've known. He had taken one of the most important friendships from Louis. He was supposed to be Louis' supporter, but now he knew that if he really cared about Louis he wouldn't have done that.

"Did I? Did I... ruin you and Zayn's friendship?" Harry looks up at Louis and sees that Louis' eyes were starting to fill with tears as well. Louis runs a hand through Harry's hair and sniffles lightly.

"Harry, you didn't ruin anything. If Zayn and I were as good of friends as we thought, then a silly rumor wouldn't have ruined that. Zayn and I both know what was really going on. This isn't your fault, Harry, I promise you that. Will you stop crying, now? God, you can't keep crying, because I'm crying just watching you," Louis says. Louis brings a hand up and wipes a few tears from Harry's eyes.

"I'm sorry. I should've listened to everyone. Everyone was telling me that you really loved Eleanor, but I didn't listen. I'm so sorry that I hurt you, Louis. I never meant to hurt you. Ever," Harry apologizes. Louis silences him and holds the boy tighter to his chest.

It takes a few minutes for Harry to truly calm down and when he does he pulls himself from Louis' tight embrace. Louis scans over Harry's face, trying to make sure he was okay. Louis didn't want to let Harry go if he wasn't.

"Harry, you never hurt my feelings. It might've hurt to see Eleanor upset about it and it might've hurt to fight with Zayn, but I promise you never hurt me. Nothing you ever said made me cry or become upset so don't ever think that again, yeah?" Harry nods lightly. He was tired from crying. 

"Harry, do you see me as a person?" The question was deep, almost too deep for Harry to think about now, but he forces himself to focus.

"I've been trying to. Ever since Mum told me I've been trying to get myself to see you as a normal, everyday person," Harry answers.

Louis inhales lightly and stares at Harry. The tension in the room thickens as Louis moves a hand through Harry's hair.

"I'm sorry, I've been dying to touch it ever since I've seen you," Louis hums. Harry smiles softly and tries not to blush as Louis stares at him.

"You saw me for the first time an hour ago," Harry protests.

"No, I stalk your Instagram from time-to-time. In the beginning, I thought you were just a fan and I was tempted to follow you, but then I saw you were a Zouis and I couldn't. You always knew stuff as soon as it happened and I went to your account to see what the fans were saying. I also went to your account to see how to make Zouis seem less real, but obviously, I wasn't that good at it. I would see your selfies and want to meet you because you looked so nice and soft. I can still remember talking to Niall when Mum first tweeted about Anne and I was stalking her account. In her profile picture was a picture of you, her, and Gemma. I had no clue where I knew you from, but later I recognized you as the guy from the account," Louis explains. Harry opens his mouth to say something, but is interrupted.

"Harry, we're leaving!" Harry stands and heads towards the door. He turns to give one last look at Louis, soaking it all in. Harry was debating on what to do next. Did he just leave or was he supposed to say something?

"Bye, Harry," Louis hums. Harry sucks in a deep breath and nods at Louis awkwardly before leaving the room and sighing loudly.


	12. Chapter 12

The wedding was today and Harry didn't know how to feel. He was still confused about whatever happened at the dinner with Louis. The room was so tense and it felt like Louis was about to kiss him, but that couldn't be right. He had a loving girlfriend (which Harry sadly had to admit to now) and had denied the gay rumors. 

"Are you sure I look okay?" Harry had been pestering his mother with questions as they drove to the wedding venue. Anne sighed loudly. They were nearly there and the closer they got the more Harry had pestered. He wanted to make sure he looked okay for everyone. 

"You look amazing, Love. Don't be so nervous," Anne assures him. 

"Don't be nervous? Mum, all of One Direction are going to be there. I haven't prepared myself enough for that. On top of that the party will be filled with paps trying to get pictures. What if I get in a picture and someone recognizes me from my fan account? I have to apologize to Eleanor when I'm there as well," Harry mumbles. 

He promised himself that he would apologize to Eleanor for any inconvenience Harry ever caused her. Lottie had tried to tell him that there was no apology needed, but Harry knows he would feel bad if he didn't. 

Harry's stomach dropped as they pulled into the wedding venue and parked among the other cars. Harry steps out of the car and adjusts himself quickly. He was hoping that his hat, scarf, and unbuttoned shirt looked nice enough for the wedding. The last thing he did was push a pair of sunglasses up his nose as he walked with his mum towards the wedding. 

"Harry!" Harry jumps at the sound of his name and he turns, trying to find who was shouting at him. He spots Lottie waving him over. Harry glances at his mum who gestures for him to go and join her. 

"Hey. We didn't come late or anything, right?" Harry takes his place beside Lottie as they slowly start walking together. 

Harry was glad Lottie didn't have any hard feelings after the blow up at the dinner. She had explained that she didn't have any romantic feelings towards Harry and Harry was thankful. They agreed on staying friends and Harry couldn't be more pleased. Besides, Harry was 20 and Lottie was only 15. 

"No, you're fine. The ceremony is going to start in a little bit. Mum wants everyone in the the wedding party to meet up soon, so I can't stay long. How about I introduce you to some people," Lottie offers.

Harry fiddles with his fingers at Lottie leads them towards a small group of people. A small group of people who Harry seemed to recognize. He stops in his tracks and grabs Lottie's arm. 

"No, no, no, that's Niall, Liam, and Sophia! I can'ts go over there," Harry protests. 

"And Lou," Lottie adds, smirking. Harry feels his eyes watering as he looked at the group. Niall and Liam were playing around and Sophia was watching them. Harry's heart pounded as Niall laughed loudly. 

"Okay, I'm okay. I might as well get this over with now." Harry sucks in a deep breath as Lottie drags him towards the group. Every step closer caused Harry's heart to beat faster. He was sure they would hear his rapid heartbeat as Lottie opened her mouth to speak. 

"Hey Liam, hey Niall, this is my friend Harry. I've got to go join Mum pretty soon and he doesn't really know anyone. Can you please take him under your wing?" Harry watches as the two glance from Lottie to Harry. Niall smiles at Harry. 

"Sure! I'm Niall, it's nice to meet you, Harry. It's fine, Lott, go run off and do what you got to do. Liam and I got this, right Liam," Niall speaks. Liam gives Harry a glance before slowly nodding his head. If Niall didn't know about what had happened, then surely Liam did by the way he was acting. 

"I'm Liam, that's Sophia my girlfriend, and Lou is our stylist over there," Liam introduces. Harry notices the standoffish way Liam is acting. He knows he shouldn't be upset by it, but Liam could probably smell the nerves coming off of Harry. He was sure that Liam knew he was a fan and wasn't expecting any fans to be here. 

"So, where do you come from, Harry? I'm Irish, if you couldn't tell. Liam's English and I'm going to assume you're English as well," Niall says. Harry was glad Niall was making conversation. His heart was still beating fast, but it seemed to have calmed down a little. 

"I'm English," Harry answers quietly. 

"How do you know the Deakins?" 

Harry's heart drops. He didn't know how to answer the question. He knew of them because of the band, but he knew them because of his mother. Harry wanted to keep being a fan a secret in fear of what the two would think. 

"My mum is friends with Jay," Harry says. 

"We're in the band with Louis, her son, do you know Louis?" Harry's heart leaps at the sound of Louis' name. Liam had seemed to wonder off somewhere, probably to join Sophia, but Harry didn't mind. He felt weird around Liam. 

"I actually met him for the first time a couple days ago," Harry replies. After Liam left, Harry's heart rate seemed to slow and he became a lot calmer. He was glad Niall was easy to talk to and didn't push him.

"Oh, really? How long have your mums know each other?"

"Not long, they met in the beginning of June. After the Manchester concert, I think. The concert was amazing and you guys had a great set, by the way."

Harry remembers that night easily. The concert had been amazing. A few of Harry's friends had been there that night and had been sending Harry videos of the concert. He knew Jay had been at that concert, but he had no clue the following morning would change his life forever. 

"Were you there?" 

"I wish. My friends had gone and there were videos circulating." 

"Yea makes sense." He watches as Niall turns towards the church and sees the doors opening. "Looks like they're letting people in. Wanna go in and catch a seat or are you going to sit with your Mum?" 

Harry glances around, trying to find his mother somewhere among the crowd of people that formed in the last few minutes. He spots her with his step-dad. He figures it would be a lot easier for him to just join his parents. He was scared if he hung around Niall too much he would start rambling and soon enough his secrets would come spilling out with it. 

"I think I should go sit with Mum. It was nice talking to you, though." Niall waves at him as Harry goes and joins his family. 

"You were talking with Niall, huh? You didn't look nervous at all! See, it's a lot easier than you thought," His mum teases. He rolls his eyes as they make their way into the church and find seats. Harry prays that the reception isn't as awkward as the pre-ceremony was.


	13. Chapter 13

The ceremony was beautiful and Harry had to excuse himself afterwards to freshen up because of it. It wasn't his fault that declarations of love always hit home and made him tear up (sometimes a little more than tear up if he must admit it).

"What did I miss," Harry asks when he joins his mother at their assigned table. His mother silences him and gestures for him to take as seat.

"You missed the introduction and most of the first dance. I believe there's going to be a little bit of time in between dinner and now to go around and meet everyone," Anne explains. Harry nods. He glances up and catches Louis' gaze from across the room. He blushes as he remembers the night earlier this week.

He hears chatter start around him and Harry finds himself snapping back to reality. He looks around and sees everyone walking around and talking. He stands, not quite sure what to do. Harry's mother had already disappeared somewhere and Lottie looked busy helping her Mum. He sits back down pathetically.

**RipJayTD:**

**Hey! How r u doing?**

**DefendingLouis:**

**Im at a wedding**

**RipJayTD:**

**That sucks. Is it any fun?**

**DefendingLouis:**

**Not yet.**

**RipJayTD:**

**I've been tweeting good wishes to Jay. Her wedding is today too.**

**Thats funny. Ur mom is friends with Jay and Jays wedding is today and ur at a wedding.**

**wait...**

**DefendingLouis:**

**Dont be mad**

**RipJayTD:**

**UR AT JAY TOMLINSON'S WEDDING AND YOU THINK IM NOT GOING TO BE MAD? OMG YOU HAVE TO SEND PICTURES**

**DefendingLouis:**

**Fine, but only of the decorations. No pictures of the family.**

**RipJayTD:**

**Well ur no fun**

Harry rolls his eyes at his friend. He takes out his camera and snaps a few pictures of the decorations, trying to be secretive about it. He didn't want to attract any attention on to him. After he takes a few he goes through them, picking out which one's were good enough to save.

"Taking pictures of me?" Harry jumps and looks up. Louis was smiling at him.

"No, just of the... decorations," He answers sheepishly.

"What are you doing just sitting around anyway? You could at least pretend like you can be social," Louis teases. Harry feels himself blushing again, but stands.

"Fine, but I'm not going alone," Harry protests. Louis shrugs and rests a hand on Harry's back. He leads him in the direction of Niall and Liam. Harry mumbles protests, but they fall to deaf ears.

"Hey, this is Harry, but Niall told me you already met. Harry, this is Niall, Liam, Sophia--poor thing is dating Liam--, Lou, and Eleanor," Louis introduces. Harry gives a small nod towards everyone as Louis introduces them.

Harry leans down to Louis' hear and whispers, "I need to talk to Eleanor and apologize, do you think I could grab her for a second?" Louis gives a small nod and gestures at Eleanor. She gives them a confused look, but follows anyway.

The trio finds a place away from everyone else, making sure it was quiet enough so they could hear each other without yelling. Harry looks over Eleanor's face and wonders how he could ever had done such terrible things to her to begin with. She looked so nice and sweet in person, not like the girl he had made her out to be in his head.

"I want to apologize. I have an account, DefendingLouis, and I've said some... awful things on it about you. Just recently I had the opportunity to sit down and talk to Louis about everything and I realized that I was wrong. I was defending a relationship that was never real and ended up hurting someone's feelings. Louis told me that you guys were actually together and that the gay rumors weren't true and I'm... sorry," Harry sighs. Harry watches Eleanor give him a small smile. She tucks a strand hair behind her ear and glances down at her hands.

"Thank you, Harry. You didn't need to do that and I shouldn't have let the rumors get to me. I'm dating a famous singer and I shouldn't let stupid rumors get me down to being with. Well, uh, I'm going to get back to everyone before they start wondering what's going on. Thanks again, Harry," Eleanor says. Harry feels a weight being lifted off his shoulders as Eleanor walks away.

"Can we just pretend that none of this every happened," Harry mumbles. Louis catches his gaze and nods slowly.

"We can. Looks like dinner is about to start, so I better be getting back. Bye, stranger," Louis smiles. Harry tries to fight the smile growing across his lips, but can't. Louis turns and heads back, glancing back at Harry once.

"Stranger," Harry whispers.

~_~_~

The dancing had started a while ago. The dance floor was filled and the energy in the room was great. Louis was sitting at his table, trying to find the best time to join the dancers. He glances around the room, trying to see if he can find Eleanor anywhere. He thinks he remembers her saying something about a photoshoot early in the morning, so she had probably already left.

He looks longingly to the dance floor, trying to find someone he knew. He didn't want to dance alone. He catches the sight of Harry towards the back of the crowd, awkwardly dancing by himself. Louis tries not to laugh at the boy's terrible dance moves, but does anyway. He decides to join him.

"Hi, I'm Louis Tomlinson and I don't believe we've met." Louis has to shout over the music to be heard. Harry turns and blushes from embarrassment. Louis notices that Harry blushed a lot, but he didn't mind. He found it fun making the younger boy blush.

"I'm Harry Styles," Harry jokes, going along with it. Louis steps closer to Harry, so they don't have to shout as much.

"Mind if I dance with you, Mr. Harry Styles?" Harry shakes his hips and twirls.

"Only if you can keep up, Mr. Tomlinson," Harry teases.

Louis could feel the intensity in the room almost like a cloud wrapping around him. It felt like one of those nights where you could do anything and it wouldn't matter in the morning because it could be blamed on the adrenaline running through everyone's veins. Louis could see the affects of the environment on Harry. Normally, the boy was shy and reserved, but now he was actually teasing Louis, something Louis never thought he would say.

"'Course I can keep up, I'm a famous pop star," Louis replies, both of them knowing that One Direction couldn't dance for shit.

Louis can feel the music in his bones as he lets his body take over, jumping and moving his arms to whatever rhythm his brain had made up. He watches as Harry leans his head back and laughs loudly. Louis takes a step forward so the two were closer. Harry didn't seem to notice at all and just kept dancing, obviously enjoying himself. Louis dances like he's drunk, but he isn't.

The music drains out of Louis' ear as if it were far in the distance. Everything slows down as Harry and him make eye contact. Louis gulps nervously as his eyes glance over Harry's face. He would never admit it out loud, but Harry was strangely beautiful. The boy represented so many things that Louis desired deeply. Harry was so free to do whatever he wanted and be whoever he wanted and Louis could only dream of that.

Louis leans forwards, not knowing what caused it. He wanted to blame it on the intensity and the environment or maybe a passer-by who softly pushed the two together, but he knew he couldn't. The movement was all Louis.

Their lips connected. It was like fire. Louis had only felt the feeling once before and it was when Eleanor and him started dating. It was the kind of gut-wrenching feeling you could never explain and could never replicate. Louis pushed his lips hard against Harry's, craving the gut feeling he got from it. It was an addiction and he knew it. Harry pulled away first. Louis hated the feeling of the cool air against the lips that were once pressed to the boy's. He wanted the warmth again.

Louis watches as Harry's mouth opens and closes like a fish, but he says nothing. No words could describe the moment that had just passed. Louis can't express the feelings that filled him up as Harry stepped back. No. He couldn't, he wouldn't.

Louis doesn't want Harry to leave, he wants to keep kissing him. He watches as Harry seems to have an internal battle inside of him. Louis wants to cry out as the feeling and excitement he had felt moments before slowly slipped away.

He watches Harry carefully as he steps back into the bubble that Louis and him had created. They stand close to each other, chests touching. Louis feels Harry's fingers against the side of his face. He gulps nervously as the younger, but taller boy looks down at him. Louis was frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

In a sudden burst Harry leaned forwards and connected their lips again. The feeling returned to Louis' gut and he sighs loudly. He feels Harry's fingers come off of his face and grab Louis' hands. Louis lets Harry take his hands and place them on Harry's sides. He digs his fingers into the other boy's sides as they kiss rougher. Louis feels the kiss quicken as the music seems to get louder and heavier and suddenly the warmth is leaving him.

Louis watches dumbfounded as Harry slowly walks away.


	14. Chapter 14

Anne knew something was wrong as she watched her son angrily stomp upstairs after they got home from the wedding. She debated going upstairs to see if he was okay or letting him sleep it off. She hated the thought of just leaving her son upset, though. Anne sighs loudly, knowing that she would have to go talk to him about whatever was pestering him. 

"Harry?" Anne opens the door and sees her son sitting on his bed with his arms crossed across his chest. She notices the tears starting to form in his eyes and the way his jaw clenched. 

"Harry, what's wrong?" She takes a seat on the end of her son's bed. He wipes his eyes angrily and sighs, not looking his mother in the eyes. 

"I'm just... confused and a little hurt I-I... guess," Harry exhales. Anne places a hand on her son's leg, hoping to provide him with a little comfort. 

Anne knew her son probably more than he knew himself. She knew that when Harry was really angry his voice would go deep and he would just lock himself in his room. When Harry was really sad he would have a long cry and be better after a period of time. Anne had no clue how to navigate this side of her son, the side that was angry and sad. She was used to it being one or the other, but looking across his face she saw signs of both. 

"Do you want to talk about it?" 

"This uh... has to stay here and you can't bring it up to... Jay. Louis' so weird and... confusing I guess. He talks about how beautiful and amazing his stupid... girlfriend is, but then he goes around and kisses me," Harry hisses angrily. His voice was deep and sank into her bones hitting her hard. Anne sucks in a breath as the words come tumbling from her son. Louis had kissed him?

"What do you mean Louis kissed you? When," Anne asks. She was shocked to say the least. She had a feeling that Louis wasn't completely straight, but she never figured he would do something like that. 

"Well at the wedding we were dancing and uh... Louis kissed me. I backed away at first! Then, I uh... saw his face and kissed him. Then we started maybe... snogging a little bit? When I realized what was happening I left! I just... I don't know how he could do that behind Eleanor's back like that, you know? I don't want to be some... stupid side bitch to him," Harry snaps. Anne didn't know how to react to Harry's news. 

"That's understandable, but would you at least be willing to helping him with his sexuality if he offered it?" 

"Yea! Of course I would be open to helping him explore his sexuality if he wasn't with Eleanor, but he is! He has a girlfriend and he shouldn't be kissing other people when he's with someone," Harry shouts angrily. Anne had only heard her son yell a few times. 

"Harry, if you don't mind me pointing out, you did kiss Louis back. He's not the only one at fault here. Sure, Louis did kiss you at first and it's a good thing you pulled back, but you went back and kissed him. You did that, Harry, not him. Just, remember that okay? I'll let you have some alone time to think all of this through. I really hope you figure things out with him," Anne sighs. She stands and gives her son one last sorry glance before leaving. 

~_~_~

Louis was nervous. He knew he had to talk to Eleanor about what happened at the wedding and he would rather do it now and not before she found out on her own. He knew it would be so much worse if she felt like he was hiding something from her, which he kind of was. 

He found himself the following night at her flat. Louis didn't know how to bring up the conversation in fear of how Eleanor may react. He didn't want to hurt her feelings, but he knew she would be crushed after hearing what Louis would have to say. 

"Mh, we haven't had sex yet, Lou. You've been back nearly a week and we normally would've been at it like bunnies," Eleanor giggles. They were laying on her bed kissing, well more like snogging if Louis was being honest. Eleanor starts moving down his chest and Louis stops her. 

"Not tonight," He mutters. Eleanor looks up at him, clearly offended. He felt so bad for blowing her off, but it would be better than her noticing Louis' dick wasn't even hard. 

"What have I done? Obviously something is wrong, Louis, because whenever I try to have sex with you, you never seem interested. Is there another girl I need to know about?" Louis' heart drops. He knows now would be a good time to bring up what he needed to talk about, but they were both half naked and Louis wasn't even sure if he was ready to bring it up. 

"There's not another girl, I'm just not feeling it," Louis sighs, pushing the conversation aside. He prays that she doesn't bring it back up again. He slides off of her bed and picks up his shirt that she had thrown onto the floor. He stops in his tracks as he hears the sound of metal clinking lightly.

"How about now?" He turns and stops as he sees Eleanor had unclasped her bra. His eyes widen and he quickly looks away. This was his girlfriend and he had seen her boobs before, but he felt so awkward about it now. "Really, Louis? I'm sitting here half naked and you're still not interested? You're not even hard! What's going on," Eleanor protests. Louis coughs awkwardly. 

After slipping his shirt over his head he approaches the bed and hestitantly takes a seat. He awkwardly looks at Eleanor and gestures for her to put her shirt back on, which she does pathetically. Glancing across Eleanor's confused face, Louis' heart dropped. He felt so bad about what he was going to say, but it had to be said. 

"Eleanor, I think I'm into guys."


	15. Chapter 15

"What?" Louis glances up at his girlfriend, maybe ex at this point, and sees how shocked she looked. He instantly regretted it. He wished he could go back and eat his words and keep this a secret a while longer.

"Uh... yea. I've been thinking about it for a while and I think I'm into... guys," Louis stammers. He feels awkward as he looks at Eleanor. He expected her to stand and slap him or something like they did in the movies, but she didn't.

"Oh. Okay, that is not something I expected. How long have you been thinking about it?" Louis takes a seat on her bed and runs a hand through his hair.

"Before the European leg of the tour. I started catching myself finding guys attractive. I pushed it away at first, but then the desire got stronger. I was so confused over it all. I'm just scared because I still found you attractive before and I still wanted to have sex with you, but now I can't even get hard. It's... really pathetic and I feel like shit for doing this to you," Louis explains.

"Did you ever cheat on me to uh... find out if you liked guys sexually? I won't get mad if you did," Eleanor reassures him. Louis pauses and becomes closed off as he remembers what he had done. He felt so bad about it now, but at the time he couldn't care less.

"Shit, oh god. You're doing-doing, so... Jesus this is... uh."

"Yes." The word weighted Louis down as he admitted it. He felt gross and disgusting about it now. How could he have done that to Eleanor? She had been nothing but sweet and helpful towards him and this was how he repaid her?

"How far did you go? I... I'm not trying to make you feel awkward. I just feel better... knowing. I want to help you, Louis, and not as in converting you or anything. I want to be there for you."

His hand felt good on Louis. Louis felt like he had just given into an addiction that he had been repressing for far too long, an addiction he didn't even know he had.

"He... we uh... we jerked off together a few times and he gave me a few hand-jobs. I think a blow-job once, but it's uh... kind of fuzzy in my head." Louis runs a hand through his hair.

He reached his hand up and ran it through the younger boy's brown hair. He tried imaging his girlfriend, but it was so much better thinking about the boy. He could never forget this. The moments he shared with the boy in front of him were important to Louis.

"So, are you breaking up with me? I'm fine with you doing that. I love you, Louis, and that means knowing when to let you go. We can still be friends, though, right?" Louis looks at his girlfriend.

"Actually, there's more."

The boy only wanted to help Louis. He wanted to help Louis sort through his feelings and sexual frustrations. His lips were like heaven as they made their way down Louis' neck, on his chest, on his stomach...

"What else could there be?"

"I kissed someone at the wedding. It wasn't sexual, but I liked it. I really like him, Eleanor. I'm sorry. He just... we were standing so close and it just kind of happened."

That was like the first time. Louis was horny and he offered to help. He led Louis to an empty room and locked the door. That was the first-time Louis exposed himself sexually to a guy.

"So, you're breaking up with me? It's obvious you want to date him. Is he the same guy you had the sexual relationship with?"

Louis felt guilty. Louis looks down at the boy as he tugs on Louis' member. The brown eyes make eye contact with Louis and it pushes him over the edge.

"No. The guy I kissed isn't the same guy. He's someone else. I don't have romantic feelings for the guy I had sex with," Louis explains.

"Louis, I have a girlfriend who I love a lot. I can't have a romantic relationship with you. If we continue this, it can only be sexual. I hope you say yes, because you're one of the hottest guys I know and I get so... hard thinking about you."

"So, does that mean you aren't breaking up with me?"

"I actually need your help."

"I need you, please. Your hand is so good, so much better than mine. Kiss me, please, need your lips."

"Anything, Louis."

"I need you to be my beard. I can't afford to come out yet and everyone already knows that we're dating. There would be no difference."

Louis looks out the small window of the vehicle as they speed down the highway. The brown-eyed boy below him works on him and Louis feels his stomach tighten. He comes a moment later.

"Yea, okay. I'll do it. I just want to know who. Who do you want to be in a relationship with so badly?"

"Harry," Louis breathes. He didn't realize how much he wanted it until now. He had been repressing his feelings towards the boy in fear of what someone would think. After the kiss, Louis couldn't hold back the feelings. They consumed him. The kisses he shared with the boy started a craving.

Louis does his pants back up and gives the boy another look. He stands a little taller than Louis, but Louis doesn't mind. Louis pulls the boy towards him and plants a kiss on his neck. "Not too hard, Lou, Sophia won't like it."

"I like it. Thank you for helping me again. You work wonders. Sophia is lucky to have you." Louis looks into the eyes of the guy who, only moments ago, was touching him so intimately.

"Louis? Liam? The movie is about to start," Niall calls. Louis looks into his band-mate's eyes and smiles.

"Do you mind if I sleep on the couch? It's too late to go home now," Louis explains. Eleanor gives a small nod and Louis stands. He was grateful that she was willing to help him.

When he gets to the couch he pulls out his phone and opens Instagram. He figures he needs to clear the air now that Eleanor and he were no longer together. It didn't take long to get to the boy's profile and start a new conversation with him.

**LouisT91:**

**I broke up with Eleanor, but you can't tell anyone. The kiss made me admit to myself that I like you more than a friend. I fancy you. A lot actually. Hope you're willing to try something with me. I'm sorry if I messed everything up.**


	16. Chapter 16

"Harry, can you please open the message," Lottie complains. It was the following day and Harry had absolutely no intention of opening the DM Louis had sent him last night. Lottie had been trying to convince him all morning to do it, but no matter what it wasn't swaying Harry's decision.

Harry was mad at Louis. He hated the older boy for putting this idea in Harry's head that they could ever be together. Harry knew it was a stupid mistake and he was sure that was what the DM would say. He couldn't bear to hear that the kiss meant nothing to Louis, because it meant everything to Harry. He had never felt that before with any of the other guys he's kissed (grated there hasn't been many).

He pulls the phone from his ear and opens the Instagram app. The DM at the top was still bold. Harry sighs to himself before deleting the message. Now, he would have no clue what it said. Harry would finally be able to have a friendship with Louis without complicating things anymore then the already were.

"Too late, I already deleted it," Harry says smugly. He hears Lottie groan on the other end of the phone. Harry was proud of himself.

He felt a little bad about deleting the message, but he was taking his mother's advice. She wanted Harry and Louis to have a good friendship and work things out for that reason. The only way they could have a friendship is if this got forgotten. Last night he was mad at Louis, but now he wanted it all put behind them. Louis was straight and had admitted that to Harry, so Harry had to start seeing him as that.

"What do you mean you deleted it? Harry! Jesus, it was  _important_. You're not going to be able to avoid this forever. What are you running from anyway?" Harry sighs. He didn't know why Lottie didn't understand everything. He figures it was because she was only 15. If she were only a little older she might be able to grasp that Harry was fixing the situation by doing this.

"I'll explain it again, but after this we're moving on and talking about something else. Louis is straight. He told me that. He loves Eleanor and he's proud of that. Eleanor is a wonderful girl and I'm sure that they're a very happy couple. The kiss was stupid okay? It was a heat-of-the-moment kind of thing that won't happen again. I want to actually have a shot at being his friend and I've cleared up all the Zouis drama," Harry explains.

"God, Harry, he dumped her okay? I wasn't supposed to tell you, but he broke up with Eleanor. We are the only ones that know about it, so you can't go around spreading it, alright? Talk to him. I've got to go, but promise me that you'll message him."

Louis broke up with Eleanor? Why would he do that? Only a few days ago, he had told Harry that he was in love with her. Harry was sure this was a mistake. Lottie must be pulling his leg. There was no way that this was correct.

"Okay. Yea, I guess I can talk to him. Can you at least tell me what you know? I don't want to talk into this blind," Harry complains.

"I really have to go, Harry, but I promise it's not all bad, alright? Just message him. Mum's calling me for lunch so I've got to go," Lottie replies. Harry groans, but says bye to his friend as they hang up. What kind of mess had Harry gotten into?

~_~_~

"What did you tell him?" Lottie enters the room next to her to see her brother on his bed. He came home earlier the following morning and she caught him sneaking in. They were always close, so Lottie wasn't surprised when Louis explained the entire situation to her.

"Said Mum was calling for lunch," Lottie replies. She takes a seat next to her brother on the bed and watches as Louis pulls out his phone.

Lottie knew that something was going on between her friend and her brother. She was counting on them becoming a thing, but she knew both needed a little push. So, when Louis told her he needed help winning Harry over she was quick to agree.

"What did he say? Is he going to read the message?" Lottie shook her head. Her phone buzzes in her hand and she frowns. Why was Harry messaging her?

** DefendingLouis: **

**Im about to message him. Pray for me.**


	17. Chapter 17

Johannah smiles as she sees her son walk into the kitchen. He leaves tomorrow to start the tour again and it would be another two months before she could see her boy again. She gestures for Louis to take a seat at the table.

"Mum, I've got something that I should tell you," Louis starts. Jay's eyebrows furrow as she takes a seat in front of her oldest child. She could tell there was something worrying her son and she wants to get to the bottom of it.

"You can tell me anything," She reassures him. Louis nods and fiddles with his hands longer before opening his mouth to speak again.

"I kissed someone at your wedding and it wasn't Eleanor. I really liked it and... the next night--when I was spending the night at Eleanor's--I broke up with her. I explained everything and she was okay with it. I told Lottie and she helped me admit my feelings to the person that I kissed. You have to promise not to be upset when I tell you who it is, okay?"

Jay was worried. She was a little upset with her son for cheating on his long-term girlfriend, but that was his business. He got it sorted out, so it wasn't like she could help him with that. She tries to remember who she had seen her son with at the night of her wedding, but she wasn't paying attention.

"It's not of your cousins, right? I'm okay with it being anyone as long as it's not your cousin," Jay replies. Louis' eyes widen and he immediately tells her that's not it. She lets out a sigh of relief. It couldn't be that bad, right?

"It was Harry, Anne's son. We kissed, snogged actually, and uh... Lottie helped get us together in a way. We're not like... dating or exclusive or anything. He agreed to help me figure everything out and that means that we're together, but I'm not sure. I know that I like him and that he likes me, but... I don't know. We've chatted and had a few phone calls and such, but I haven't seen him since. I leave tomorrow and I need your advice. Should I call him and explain everything or proper drive to go see him?"

Jay sucks in a breath. She wasn't expected this at all. After a moment of thinking she finds something to say. "Well, you aren't going to be seeing him for two months, so I suppose you should drive and go speak to him in person. Do you mind if I call Anne and warn her? I can make sure she doesn't tell Harry, so you can make it a surprise," Jay suggests. Louis nods.

"Yea, I don't want to scare his family or anything. I should get going then, huh?" Louis stands and brings his mother into a tight hug.

Jay was surprised to see how happy this made Louis. She hadn't seen him this excited over a person in a long time. She smiles as she realizes how happy Harry must've made him. Jay watches him pick up a pair of car keys and leave the house. Once he's gone she pulls out her phone and calls her friend.

"Jay! It's been so long since we've had a chat!"

"Very true, we need to meet up for coffee again soon! Listen, I'm not sure what Harry's told you, but Louis is driving down to yours now," Jay explains. "You can't tell Harry! It's supposed to be a surprise to him, but I didn't want Louis to scare you."

"Wait, what do you know," Anne asks. Jay hesitates, not knowing how much information to give to Anne. She didn't know what the other Mum already knew and didn't want to out the boys, but she felt terrible lying to her friend. She hurries into the other room, away from any listening ears. 

"Louis and Harry fancy each other. Apparently, Harry agreed to help Louis sort out his feelings for men. I guess it also means that they're together. How much did Harry tell you?"

"He told me about the same story. Except, they snogged at your wedding! Harry made me promise not to tell you, but you already know about them fancying each other. Mad 'init, our sons end up falling for each other," Anne laughs. Jay lets out a little smile. It  _was_  strange.

Until a couple of months ago, the families didn't even know each other existed. Jay thinks for a moment about how many things have changed in the short span of time. She couldn't believe that complimenting someone at a cafe could change someone's life so dramatically. She doesn't want to think about what could've happened if her and Anne never became friends. It was a world that Jay didn't want to live in.

~_~_~

Harry was in his room, plucking at his guitar. It was a present he got a couple years back on his birthday and he played it from time-to-time. He finds his fingers drifting to the first chord of You and I (admittedly his favorite song off the album). He finds himself starting to sing the song quietly.

A loud knock on the door startles him and he nearly drops his guitar. His mother sticks her head in and smiles. "Harry, you have a visitor," She announces. Harry rolls his eyes. With his luck, it was only the postman.

"Is it anyone important," He asks. His mother pretends to think, then shrugs.

"Depends on what your definition of 'important' is," She replies casually. He becomes annoyed. Why couldn't she tell him who was here?

"Mum, unless it's Ed Sheeran or One Direction I really couldn't care less," Harry admits. He goes back to his guitar and starts strumming You and I again. He hears his door shut and he's thankful his mum finally left him alone. He loved her to death, but she was a little annoying at times.

Harry starts singing the song again quietly. He gets through Niall's solo and begins singing Liam's when he's interrupted.

"You sing that better then Liam, but don't tell him I said that," Louis jokes.


	18. Chapter 18

Harry turns and sees Louis. He's frozen with shock. The last time he saw the older boy face-to-face was at the wedding. Now, they were sort of boyfriends. Harry's heart flutters at the thought. He was dating Louis,  _kind of._  They needed to talk about their relationship, because My-kind-of-boyfriend-but-kind-of-not didn't have a nice ring to it.

"Louis!" Harry stands and brings the boy into a hug. Harry can feel Louis laugh into his shoulder. He feels like he should be embarrassed at his excitement, but he couldn't be bothered trying to contain it.

"Hey, Harry, it's nice to see you too," Louis mumbles. They pull apart and Harry blushes. They had video-chatted tons and texted each other constantly in the last week. Harry knew that their guards were starting to fall and their true colors were starting to show.

"I'm sorry, I just... I know you're leaving soon. Why did you drive all the way down here? You should be spending time with your family," Harry asks. He feels bad once he realizes Louis was giving up family time to be with him. Louis shrugs him off.

"I'm living with them, I promise they're  _dying_  for me to leave. Besides, I wanted to see you," Louis admits. Harry tries to contain his smile, but it was hard. Louis shoves him lightly. "You turn me into a sap," He teases.

Harry takes a seat on his bed and Louis follows. Harry is overwhelmed as he looks over Louis' face. He couldn't believe the pop-star was sitting on his bed. Harry found it hard to call him that anymore, though. Harry had a hard time imagining Louis as a pop-star after their week of non-stop talking. He could only see him as  _Louis._

He looked breath-taking from close-up. Harry never got the chance to admire him, personally. Sure, he had spent hours staring at picture of him, but it wasn't the same. In person, Harry could make out the stubble starting to form on his chin and jaw. His eyes weren't as blue as they were in the pictures, but Harry still loved them.

Louis turns and catches Harry. He blushes again and turns away. At this point, Harry knew that Louis loved making him blush. Louis would say things or do things that he knew would make Harry's cheeks turn pink. He wanted to hate him for it, but he couldn't. He could never hate Louis.

Harry feels Louis' eyes on him. "Now you're staring," Harry points out. He turns back to Louis and watches the other boy.

"You're pretty, I can't help it," Louis shrugs. Harry rolls his eyes. Louis was the more shameless flirt. He loved to point out how pretty Harry looked at any given moment. Harry was too shy to do that.

"God, you're making me blush." Louis leans over and pokes Harry's cheek teasingly. Harry swats him away, but secretly wanted him to continue. They stop teasing each other and fall into silence, only for it to be broken by Louis.

"We need to talk," Louis starts. Harry's heart drops. "It's nothing bad, well I mean it kind of is. I'm going back on tour, obviously, and that means I'm going to be away for two months. I've done that before, so I'm used to it, but you aren't. I know we aren't boyfriends or haven't put a label on anything, but uh... I'd kind of like it if we didn't see other people while I was away. I have to see Eleanor, because everyone still thinks that we're dating, but I don't have romantic feelings for her," Louis explains. Harry sighs, he thought he was being broken up with.

"Yea, I'd like that too, being exclusive. We'll figure out the whole tour thing as it comes, but I'm sure we can work something out. We can Skype and text and call, there's lots of things out there for us to work with. As labels go, I don't know. Do you want a label?" He watches as Louis thinks it over.

"I don't know either. I know that I like having something simple with you and I don't want to over-complicate that with a label, yea? Besides, I'm about to go back on tour. Relationships are hard as it is, but when I'm going to be gone it'll make things harder. I think we should keep doing whatever it is we're doing," Louis replies. Harry nods. It was a good plan.

"Yea, that makes sense," Harry mutters. They sit in silence a little while longer, but it isn't short lived. "I've been thinking of changing up my account," He announces.

"What? Your DefendingLouis account?"

"Yea, I've been thinking about it lately. It feels weird to have an account like that when I know you like I do now. Of course, I'm still going to defend you regardless, but so many things have changed. I don't want to delete the account because I've worked so hard on it, but it would make for a nice change." Louis smiles at him, clearly pleased.

It was something Harry had been thinking about. He didn't want to delete the account, but he felt like it needed a make-over. It felt weird to go down his timeline and see Zouis edits when he knew that Zayn was homophobic. It was strange to scroll and see pictures of Louis and remember that silly joke Louis had told Harry. It was so different now.

"Hey, will you do me a favor," Louis asks.

"Sure."

"Will you kiss me?"

The question hung in the air. Harry's shocked. He blinked rapidly and gulped. Louis hat asked for Harry to kiss him. They had already kissed once, but that was rushed and didn't have any real feelings in it.

"Are you sure," Harry asks shakily. The question was directed at Louis, but it was also meant for himself. Harry wanted to kiss Louis. He wanted to, but he was nervous. What if he was a bad kisser? What if his breath smells?

"Yea," Louis mutters. Harry looked over Louis' face and could tell he was nervous too. Harry leans forwards awkwardly and hesitantly meets Louis' lips.

It was awkward at first. Both were unsure of what to do and it was the opposite of their first kiss. Louis scouts closer to Harry and settles his hand on the other boy's waist. Harry pulls back and looks Louis' face over.

"No, kiss me again," Louis demands softly. Harry blushes and leans towards again. Their lips connect once again and it's a little more confident. Their lips move together slowly. Harry's insides were turning to mush as Louis placed his other hand on Harry's cheek. Louis pulls back first.

"You can touch me you know," Louis teases. Harry ignores him and instead kisses him again. He moves his hand to Louis' shoulder and rests it there. Butterflies swarmed in Harry's stomach. Harry can feel Louis sigh into the kiss and he pulls back a moment later.

"Thank you," He mutters. Harry's out of breath and doesn't know how to respond.

"You're welcome?" Louis hums and pecks his lips again.

"Your lips are like drugs, you know that? I could kiss you all day," Louis sighs. He gives the boy another kiss to prove his point. Harry smiles and rolls his eyes. "I need to leave soon," Louis says. 

Louis pulls back completely. He glances over Harry and smiles. It was his Sunshine Smile. His lips pursed and his eyes light up. The smile was contagious. Louis stands and starts towards Harry's door.

"Already," Harry pouts. He joins Louis at the door. Louis' back is presses against it as they talk. Harry didn't want Louis to leave. He knew that as soon as he did he wouldn't be able to see the boy for a while.

"Mum wants me home for dinner," Louis sighs. Louis turns to leave, but Harry pulls him back. He presses a final kiss to Louis' lips. Harry runs a hand through his hair as Louis blushes.

"For the road," Harry explains.

"You're making it really easy to stay, Styles." Harry shrugs. Louis rolls his eyes. He steps forwards and brings Harry into a hug.

Harry wraps his arms tight around the other boy. He can feel Louis pressing his face into Harry's shoulder. Harry must lean down a little bit to hold the boy tighter, but he doesn't care. He lifts Louis up enough for his toes to brush the floor.

"I'm gonna miss you Harry," Louis murmurs. Louis' hair tickles Harry's neck, but he loves it. He absolutely loves it and he doesn't want to let go. Letting go of Louis would mean he would have to leave and that was the last thing Harry wanted.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Harry sighs. They pull away. Louis gives him one last longing look before leaving Harry's bedroom. Harry wants to run after him, already missing the warmth the older boy provided.


	19. Chapter 19

It had been about a month into the American leg of the tour and Liam couldn't hate the tour bus more. Sure, he loved touring, but he got sick of being stuck on the tour bus for hours. If Liam could do the concerts and meeting the fans without a tour bus, then he thinks he would enjoy touring a lot more.

"Louis, what're you doin'," Niall asks. Liam sat at the table near the couch. Niall and Louis were playing FIFA on the X-Box and Zayn was off sleeping somewhere.

"Sorry, I'm getting a call. I should take it," Louis sighs. Liam doesn't miss Louis' rosy cheeks as he presses the phone to his ear and goes to hide in an unoccupied room.

At first, Liam figured it was Eleanor. The calls came frequently and most were in the morning, so it would be about midday back home. Liam knew Eleanor got clingy, but he also knew she worked during the day. Sure, she might have some time off, but it just wasn't adding up in his head.

Then, Liam assumed Louis was calling his mum or his sisters, but that never happened before. He later could deny the theory when he overheard Louis saying, "Miss your lips." Liam was sure Louis didn't feel that way towards his family.

"Has Louis said anything to you about the person who keeps calling him? It's like clockwork," Liam asks. Niall looks up from his game and shrugs.

"Never paid much attention, but I guess. Maybe it's the weird guy from the wedding. That lad hanging with Lottie, I think. They looked like mates," Niall suggests. He sets the controller down and grabs a handful of sweets. Liam knew it couldn't be that simple.

"Yea, but if they're friends why don't they just text? You don't see my mates calling me up every day," Liam points out. Niall rolls his eyes and huffs. He tosses an M&M in his mouth before answering.

"I don't know! Quite harassing me about it. If you want to know ask him. It might be his girlfriend. Jesus, you're acting like his Mum," Niall huffs. Liam rolls his eyes. Of course, Niall didn't see the significance of this.

Liam loved Niall to death, but he never over analyzed anything. He never craved to know anything, which is one of the things that set the two boys apart. Liam loved solving a mystery, especially ones about his friends. Besides, he thought Louis told him everything.

"Sorry, what did I miss," Louis asks, reappearing back in the room. Liam gestures for Niall not to say anything, but Niall obviously misses it.

"Liam's wonderin' who keeps on calling ya," Niall replies. Louis' cheeks turn pink as he turns to Liam. Liam shrugs, already planning the Irish boy's death. He was very clear about his 'don't-say-a-fucking-word' gesture.

"Just, mates, you know," Louis shrugs. He turns to Niall, "Jesus, Ni, you're gonna eat all the sweets!" Niall grabs the bowl and stuffs another handful of multi-color M&M's into his mouth. Louis shoves him and snatches the bowl back. He pulls out a few green's and eats them delicately.

Just mates? Liam was positive Louis was hiding something from him. You don't talk about missing your mates' lips, well unless your friend group was super gay, but even then. That was a hard thing to say 'no homo' too.

Later that night Liam finds himself not being able to fall asleep. His thoughts kept his mind running. He knew he was exhausted, but there was no shutting his brain off. He curses to himself as he turns in his sleep cabin.

"Jesus, Liam, can you chill," Louis hisses. Liam feels Louis bang his cabin from underneath. The last thing Liam needed was Louis telling him to chill out. He wouldn't even be awake if he wasn't so worried about Louis. Was he cheating on Eleanor? Liam knew he shouldn't be too concerned about it, considering he's sucked the old boy off, but that was a sexual thing. It would  _really_  be cheating if Louis had romantic feelings for someone else.

"I can't sleep, fuck off Tomlinson," Liam hisses back. He sticks his hand out of the curtains and flips Louis off. Louis hits the bottom of the bunk again.

"Can you two shut up? I'm trying to sleep," Zayn grumbles. Liam groans, because of Louis' obnoxious banging everyone was awake.

"You've been sleeping all day Zayn," Louis points out. He can hear Zayn mumble a silent 'fuck off', but it's nearly unheard. Liam sighs, thankful he hadn't woken Niall up. The boy deserved to sleep.

"He's right you know," Niall's voice pipes in. Liam sighs loudly and turns again. He wouldn't get any sleep if these questions kept burning in his head. He climbs out from his cabin and opens Louis' curtains.

"We need to talk," He whispers. Louis frowns, but slowly climbs out of bed. Liam leads the pair to the other side of the tour bus. Liam didn't want to disturb their band mates any more than they already were.

"What is so important that you have to wake me up in the middle of the ni--."

Liam interrupts, "Who keeps calling you?" Louis' tired face furrows and he thinks for a moment before answering.

"I told you, my mates," Louis insists. Liam couldn't believe Louis was still lying to him. He wanted to give Louis the benefit of the doubt, but it was making things increasingly harder. He  _knew_  Louis was lying.

"You don't tell your mates that you 'miss their lips'. Now, tell me the truth. Don't bother saying Eleanor, because I know it isn't her." Liam folds his arms across his chest. He was proud of himself.

"For fuck's sake, you have to promise not to tell  _anyone_  okay? I broke up with Eleanor and I'm kind of... seeing a guy," Louis shrugs. A guy? Liam's eyes widen. No wonder Louis was keeping it a secret. It was a guy.

"Oh, I didn't... I wouldn't have--."

"Save it. Next time, leave me alone okay? You always stick your nose into my business and I'm getting sick of it. I'm going to bed and you better try not to make so much fucking noise this time," Louis huffs. Liam watches as his friend stomps off.


	20. Chapter 20

The guys ended up at a hotel the following night and Louis couldn't be more thankful. It had been a while since he's been in a bed. He also managed to snag a room to himself. Which meant he could video-chat Harry without worrying about someone snooping.

He messages Harry, telling him that he was going to call for a video chat. It was around ten in America, so it was four in the evening back home. Louis smiles as he presses the button to call Harry over Skype. Harry answers quickly and smiles at Louis.

"Hello! Can you see me alright? The sound good," Harry asks. Louis gives him a thumb-ups. Louis glances across Harry's face and sighs deeply.

He was so handsome. Even though the quality is complete shit, it wasn't hard to make that out. Louis finds comfort in Harry's green eyes. God, his lips, Louis wants to go through the screen and kiss him, but he couldn't. He wants to reach out and tousle Harry's curly hair and watch him blush. He didn't realize how much he would miss Harry.

"Yea, you sound as lovely as ever," Louis comments. Harry rolls his eyes, but keeps his lopsided grin. Louis watches as Harry adjusts himself on his bed, so that he was closer to the screen.

"How's the hotel," Harry asks. Louis eyes the room. It was simple. A queen bed, the one he was sitting on, sat in the middle of the room. The telly was stationed across from it. Two nightstands sit on both ends of the bed.

"Alright," Louis shrugs. "How's everything with you?"

"Good... good, yea, really good. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do career wise, you know? I want to think realistically, but I've always wanted to be a singer, you know? I've been thinking about a lawyer. Could you see me as a lawyer, Lou?" Louis thinks for a moment. He imagines Harry wearing a suit and defending people.

"I'll support you in whatever career you pick. If you want to be a lawyer, then be a lawyer. I do think you could be a singer if you tried, though. No harm in auditioning in X-Factor. I did it and look where I am now," Louis jokes.

Louis knew that Harry had an amazing voice. Most of what Louis' heard of Harry's singing voice was teasing, but he knew the boy could sing. Louis knew that if Harry tried out for X-Factor then he could have a good shot at winning it, but he also knew how shit the music industry was and didn't want his baby getting hurt.

They talk a little bit longer and soon find their conversation ended. They were both staring at each other. Louis knew they found themselves in that situation more times than they liked to admit.

"So, I was reading an article about relationships and we should reconsider the 'no label' thing. I know that it was my idea to begin with, but maybe we should rethink it." Louis sighs.

Louis feels himself blushing. He didn't stumble across the article, like he was making out to be. Actually, he googled 'when should I call him my boyfriend' and read the first article about it. Everything in it made complete sense and were things Louis related to.

"Can you read me the article," Harry asks. Louis sighs, knowing he hadn't deleted the article from his history yet. He pulls it up and blushes as he reads the article title.

"7 Hints It's Time to Call Him Your Boyfriend," Louis starts. He hears Harry snicker on the other side of the screen, but he doesn't look up. Louis was way too embarrassed. He flicks Harry off instead and continues reading.

"Do I have to read the whole thing or can I just sum it up," Louis questions. He doesn't want to read the entire thing out loud, besides some of the things would make him blush too hard.

"Just sum it up."

"If you care about the other person, want the other person to be happy, if you've met all the friends and family, and a few other things then you should call him your boyfriend. I don't know, it got me thinking about us. I like you a lot, Harry, and in my head, you're already my boyfriend. That stupid shit I said about long-distance was just me being scared, I think, but this is what I want. Will you be my boy--." Louis is interrupted by another voice.

"Harry, Dear, do you mind helping me out? Oh, is that Louis?" Anne looks at the camera and smiles. Louis smiles back and waves at Harry's mum. "Hi, Louis! It's Anne," Anne shouts. Harry gestures for his mum to speak quieter. Louis figures she didn't realize she could talk normally.

"Hi, Mrs. Twist," Louis replies. She looks between the two and then widens her eyes.

"Oh, I'm interrupting, aren't I? I'll let you two have some... alone time. Harry come see me when you're done. Nice seeing you, Louis." She smiles between the two before going leaving Harry's room. Harry's cheek flush pink and he covers his face with his hands.

"God, I'm so sorry, I had no clue she was going to act like that," Harry apologizes.

"Aw, Harry's blushing," Louis teases. Harry pulls a hand through his hair and blushes again.

"Stop," Harry pleas. He pulls his knees to his chest and stuffs his face between his legs, trying to hide from Louis' embarrassment. Louis laughs and Harry slowly uncurls himself and sighs deeply.

"So, will you be my boyfrie--." Louis stops as he hears his door handle jingle. He perks up immediately. "Someone's at the door," Louis whispers.

"Think we can get in with my room key." Louis could recognize the Irish voice from a mile away. Oh god, they were trying to get in.

"Niall, why the hell would they give us a key that could open all the other doors? That doesn't even make sense," Liam teases. Louis can tell their trying to be secretive, but they're failing miserably.

He hears the door open and panics. Louis shuts the lid of his computer quickly. He feels a tiny bit of guilt eat at him as he imagines how confused Harry must be, but he couldn't risk getting caught.

"The door was open," Zayn explains.

"We're having movie night over in my room," Niall says. Louis sighs, thankful that he wasn't caught. Zayn glances over the situation and the laptop. He rolls his eyes and leaves the hotel room. Niall, looks between the two and runs after Zayn. "Zaynie, come back!" Louis smiles at the friendship between Niall and Zayn. Niall seemed to be the only guy Zayn never had a problem with.

"We'll be in Niall's room," Liam says. Louis watches Liam glance over the situation judging-ly. He knew he had to be more careful next time.


	21. Chapter 21

Louis looks over the crowd one last time before exiting the stage. The concert that night was amazing and Louis couldn't be prouder. He hands his microphone to one of the tech guys as he follows his bandmates to their dressing room.

"Good job tonight, Nialler," Zayn compliments. Louis glances over to the duo and smiles. The two were adorable. He knew people shipped them as 'Ziall'. Honestly, if he didn't know the boys, he would ship it too. Zayn pulls Niall into a hug and jokingly kisses the lads head.

"Times like these you'd have a hard time believing he was homophobic," Liam whispers. Louis looks up at Liam and shrugs. Louis didn't think that Zayn was homophobic. Sure, the lad may have said a few homophobic things, but Louis wanted to believe Zayn didn't believe them.

"Nice job out there Zayn, that high note was sick!" Zayn looks over at Louis and frowns.

"Thanks, you did good too," He replies softly. Niall gives the two a strange look, but shrugs it off.

"I can't wait to get to the hotel room! I could definitely sleep right about now," Niall admits. The rest of the boys agree as they change out of their concert outfits and into their casual clothes.

The take the short drive to the hotel they were staying at. They only got a hotel when they had more than one show in a city. It served a break from the uncomfortable cabins on the tour bus.

Louis and Harry had made plans on Skyping tonight. Louis is excited, because he is finally going to work up the nerve to ask Harry to be his boyfriend. He prays that they don't get interrupted again. Louis already had the boys' words that they wouldn't bother him tonight. He prays nothing happens to mess anything up tonight.

Louis enters the hotel as his phone rings. He sees that it's Harry requesting a FaceTime and he accepts happily. Harry's face takes up most the screen.

"Hey, Harry! The boys and I are catching a lift now," Louis explains. He turns the camera around to show off the other guys. Niall waves excitedly and Liam says a quick hello. Louis watches as Zayn moves out of the shot. He frowns, but doesn't give it much thought.

"How was the show? Heard it was good, everyone on Twitter 's talking about it," Harry informs him. The lift doors open and the four boys step inside. Liam works the buttons as Louis focuses on his conversation with Harry.

"Yea, yea, I would say it turned out pretty good, how about you lads? Think we did alright," Louis announces. Niall hops behind Louis and smiles at Harry.

"Louis here did sick! Zayn's high-note was fantastic and Liam was sexy, huh?" Harry laughs and Louis can feel his insides melting. Louis wishes he could listen to Harry's laugh for eternity.

The lift doors open and the four start towards the hotel rooms. Zayn and Niall part ways with Liam and Louis. Liam lets himself into the room connected to Louis'. Louis listens as Harry talks about what he saw on Instagram as Louis pulls out his key-card to unlock the door.

"Oh, I think someone is here one second," Harry says. Louis pulls his eyes from the phone and towards his door. He goes to slide the card, but the door opens before he can get to it. Louis' eyebrows furrow as he looks up.

"Surprise!" Louis nearly drops his phone as he sees Harry standing in his doorway. He brings the younger boy into a hug and smiles. He couldn't believe Harry was here. How long had he been planning this?

"Lottie, El, and I wanted to surprise you," Harry explains. They pull apart long enough for Louis to enter the hotel room. He sees Eleanor and Lottie sitting on his bed. He smiles brightly as Lottie and Eleanor walk over and bring Louis into hugs of their own.

"This is mad, what are you doing here?"

"Harry kept complaining about missing you. Besides, I always come out for a concert," Eleanor explains. "So, we booked a flight and flew out. I asked Liam what hotel you were staying at and we got rooms. Don't worry, he doesn't know that you and Harry are a thing."

"Well, we should probably let these two have some alone time, huh," Lottie smirks. Eleanor agrees and gives Louis one last hug before following Lottie out. Harry looks at Louis and brings him into another hug.

This one is longer than the first one. Louis pushes his face into Harry's neck and breathes him in. He couldn't believe he's here. Louis pulls back and places a quick kiss to Harry's lips. He feels the familiar flutters in his stomach.

"I've missed you, Harry," Louis hums. He rests his head on Harry's chest and sighs loudly. Louis feels Harry wrap his arms tightly around Louis' waist. Louis wishes he could stay there forever, but he knew he couldn't.

"You're being extra clingy. Why don't we go lie down on the bed," Harry suggests. Louis nods and untangles himself long enough for them to lay on Louis' bed. Louis wraps himself back in Harry's embrace once they're seated.

They sit in silence for a while, allowing the moment to soak in. Louis sighs deeply as Harry places a kiss on Louis' head. Louis could never get tired of Harry's kisses. "No teasing or sassy remarks," Harry asks. Louis shakes his head and silences Harry.

"Shh, just let me enjoy being in your arms, alright? I'll make fun of you later," Louis murmurs. Harry laughs and holds Louis tighter. It isn't often that Louis likes being held like this. Normally, it was the other way around, but right now he wants to be held and to feel small. He likes having Harry's strong arms wrapped around him.

"Hmm, will you be my boyfriend," Louis asks. He looks up at Harry. Louis is terrified Harry would shut him down.

"Thought that article was your way of asking me out, but alright," Harry teases. Louis rolls his eyes and snuggles his face back into Harry's chest. He feels his cheeks going hot from embarrassment. He wishes he could take back the whole article thing.

"I'm supposed to be the sassy one, not you," Louis points out.

"I have my moments," Harry replies simply. They sit in silence for a little while. Louis can almost feel the time slipping away from them. "I've better go." Louis unwraps himself from Harry and feels the cold air run down his spine. He already misses Harry and he isn't even gone yet.

"I wish you could stay," Louis whispers sadly. He knew the reason Harry couldn't stay was because he's a boy. They couldn't risk getting caught by anyone and Louis knew that. If Harry was a girl, everything would be different. It's annoying and angers Louis. Why did everything have to be so much harder because Louis likes a boy?

"I do too," Harry mutters. He gets off the bed and gives Louis a small frown. Louis pouts as he watches Harry pick up his sunglasses and place them on top of his curly head of hair.

Before leaving, Harry leans down and kisses Louis on the lips. Louis savors the kiss. It would be the last time they would be able to kiss for a while. Louis places his hand on Harry's cheek, forcing him to stay longer. Harry pulls away a little and glances over Louis' face. Louis watches Harry's green eyes hover over Louis' lips again.

"Kiss me one more time, please, for the road," Louis whispers. Harry nods and kisses Louis again. Louis pulls away quickly, knowing that if they kissed any longer he wouldn't be able to say goodbye. Harry gives Louis a sad look before leaving the hotel room.

Louis sighs angrily. If only Harry was a girl. Why did he have to like a boy? Everything would be so much easier if he liked a girl! Louis shouts loudly into a pillow as he feels himself starting to cry. Why did everyone tell him that it was wrong? How could liking someone ever be wrong? Why was he allowed to walk hand-in-hand with Eleanor and not Harry? He shouts again and throws the pillow at the door.

He watches the door joining the room next to his open and sees Liam stick his head in. "I heard shou--, oh Louis!" Louis tries to wipe at his tears before Liam can see him, but it's too late. Liam rushes over to Louis' side and brings the older boy into a hug.

Louis allows Liam to hold him, but the only thing he can think of is Harry. He wishes Harry was here with him instead. He cries harder as he reminds himself they could never be free. Louis would never be able to love Harry openly like he had did with Eleanor.

"It's okay, Louis, everything'll be okay. Let all those tears out, just like that." Liam holds Louis tight as Louis sobs into his bare shoulder. "God, who hurt you," Liam mumbles. Louis pretends he doesn't hear it, but he knows the sentence will haunt him. 


	22. Chapter 22

Harry frowns as he exits Louis' hotel room. He wishes he doesn't have to leave, but he knows it's for the better. Neither of them could risk getting caught. He slowly makes his way to the lift, so he can head back to his room.

Harry feels a smile make its way across his lips _. Louis asked him out_. He never thought he would be able to say that. Harry is  _dating_  Louis Tomlinson. He reflects on his life before all this happened. If you had told him that he would end up dating Louis, he would've laughed in your face (and maybe corrected you with Zayn's name). He couldn't believe how many things have changed in the last couple of months.

He exits the lift and pulls out his keycard as he approaches his room. He was sharing with Lottie and Eleanor. Harry was nervous about it at first, but after hanging out with them throughout the flight he got more comfortable. It was awkward being around Eleanor because of the history they had, yet Lottie managed to clear the air with jokes and funny comments.

"So, what happened?" Harry rolls his eyes as he flops onto the couch. The hotel room had two queen sized beds and a pull-out sofa. Harry insisted that the two girls got the beds and that he got the sofa.

Eleanor sat behind Lottie, braiding her hair. Harry is surprised to see how close the two girls were. Harry always assumed that the friendship they had was fake, because he thought Elounor was fake to begin with. However, being around them showed Harry that they were actually close.

"We just cuddled and uh...," Harry starts. He bites his lip as he debates whether to mention Louis asking him out. Lottie had been pestering him throughout the flight about Louis and his relationship. Harry is surprised that Eleanor was chill with it, considering they were dating at one point. "He asked me out," Harry finishes.

"Seriously! That's great, Harry! I'm so happy for you two! As soon as I saw you I knew that you two were going to be cute together, no offense Eleanor," Lottie explains. Lottie turns around to look at Eleanor, who shrugs.

"We should get to bed. We need to get up and catch out plane," Eleanor suggests. She slides off Lottie's bed and climbs into her own.

The trio had spent all today shopping and hanging out. Harry is relieved when Eleanor and Lottie didn't treat him like their Gay Best Friend. It's annoying to get placed like that when it's so _not_ Harry. Sure, he could appreciate a nice shirt and was typically more feminine, but he didn't want to be treated like that. He wanted to be  _Harry_.

Harry climbs under his covers. Eleanor reaches over and turns the lights out. Darkness surrounds Harry. He sighs deeply as he snuggles into the bed, trying to get comfortable. He imagines how much better it would be if Louis was holding him.

~_~_~

"Does the hotel serve breakfast?" Harry turns to look at Eleanor as they make their way to the lobby. Neither were sure if they got a free breakfast with their reservation. Lottie still isn't out of bed and neither wanted to wake her up if breakfast isn't promised.

"There's no hard feelings about me dating Louis, right? I hate to think that I split you two up and I don't want you to hate me. I didn't mean to steal Louis from you," Harry says. It has been eating at him lately. Eleanor is a surprisingly nice person to be around and he doesn't want Eleanor to hate him over the whole ordeal. She had been in love with Louis and Harry couldn't imagine what it would be like to go through that.

"I don't know. I guess it's hard, but any breakup is hard. I've told Louis this and I'll tell you too. I love Louis, and if you love someone then you want them to be happy. I see how happy you make Louis, so I'm happy for him. Sure, it hurts to see him with someone, but I want what's best for him and that's you." Harry's relieved. He doesn't think he can stand the girl hating him.

They exit the lift and stop as they hear a set of familiar voices. "Stop hittin' me with yer sausage, Zayn," Niall's Irish voice yells. Harry raises an eyebrow at Eleanor as they turn and see the four popstars sitting around a table.

"Hmm, you like that," Zayn teases. Zayn takes his sausage link and slaps Niall with it. Liam groans and rolls his eyes. Harry can already see why Liam is called Daddy Direction.

"Zayn, can you stop hitting Niall with your sausage?"

"You're just jealous," Zayn proclaims. He takes the sausage and bites the end off, giving Liam a seductive face. Zayn throws a wink at Liam once he's finished his bite. Harry catches sight of Louis. He was smiling at his bandmates and for the first time,  _ever_ , Harry saw them as a normal group of mates.

Harry had gotten used to the idea of being around the band, but that doesn't mean that he completely sees them as normal people. He sees Louis like a normal person, but whenever he sees the group he always thinks of One Direction. Sitting there, hitting each other with sausages, Harry can almost believe they were four guys on holiday.

Harry catches eyesight with Louis. Louis smiles his Sunshine Smile. "Guess they do service breakfast then," Eleanor mutters. Harry walks over to Louis' table, disregarding Eleanor's comment.

"Harry? What're you doin' here," Niall asks. Harry rests his hands on Louis' shoulder, hoping the gesture looks platonic. He has seen other guys doing it and he hasn't gotten any funny looks from anyone yet, so he figures it's safe.

"Lottie, Eleanor, and I all flew down. Eleanor was missing Louis and I figured I could use a holiday," Harry explains. He glances to Eleanor and Louis, praying that they do something couple-y.

"Good morning, Eleanor," Louis greets. Eleanor leans down and captures Louis' lips in a quick kiss. Harry can feel Louis' shoulders stiffen, but he relaxes. Harry figures it must be second-nature for Louis to kiss Eleanor. He feels a pang of jealously, but quickly pushes it aside.

Harry glances over to Zayn. He noticed, when he first approached, the disgusted look on Zayn's face. Harry didn't think much of it and assumed it was because Harry used to have the biggest Zouis account on Instagram. However, this looked different. Harry watches as Zayn's eyes glance between Eleanor and Louis. Zayn frowns deeply and eats his food. Harry wishes he could see the Zayn from earlier who was joking with his mates.

Harry notices a guy wearing a black shirt walk towards them. The four boys immediately perk up as he makes his way to the table. "Get cleaned up. We have to be at the stadium in ten minutes," He snaps. Harry takes his hands from Louis' shoulders as Louis stands. The boys toss their food and return to the table.

Harry looks at Louis. He can tell the internal battle Louis is having. Harry knew Louis wants to say goodbye to Harry first, but Harry knew he can't. He shakes his head lightly and Louis nods. Louis turns to Eleanor and plasters a smile.

"Bye Babe, I'll talk to you tonight," He promises. Louis moves towards Eleanor and pulls her into a tight hug. They stand, holding each other for a moment. Louis pulls back far enough to kiss her. Harry notes that it's longer than the first one. He watches as Louis kisses her nose and she blushes.

Harry feels jealousy pang in his stomach again. Louis is his boyfriend. He knew it was for show, but how far did that go? What if Eleanor gets the wrong idea and advances on Louis. Harry sucks in a deep breath and purses his lips. Louis and Harry make eye contact and Louis immediately pulls away from Eleanor.

Louis steps towards Harry and pulls him into a hug. Harry knew they couldn't do much in front of everyone. "I'll miss you more, Gorgeous," Louis whispers. Harry feels Louis' lips brush against his neck as Louis pulls back from the hug.

Niall gives Harry a side hug and Liam goes for a fist bump. Harry catches Zayn's gaze from across the group. He knew Zayn wasn't going to say goodbye to him and his assumption is confirmed when the boy coughs and moves with the group towards the lift.

Harry wonders what he ever did to make Zayn hate him. 


	23. Chapter 23

Eleanor sighs. She just finished a photo shoot a little while ago and now she has the rest of the afternoon to herself. She unlocks her phone and smiles as she sees a DM from Louis.

** LouisT91: **

**Remind me why I still tour?**

Eleanor hates the bubbly feelings she gets when she reads Louis' name. She still isn't over him completely and she feels terrible about it. It's obvious that Louis and Harry are made to be together and Louis looks so happy with him. Eleanor feels bad even thinking about Louis.

** EleanorJ92: **

**Bc the fans are amazing?! Tour's almost over tho so thats good!**

** LouisT91: **

**Cant wait to be home for good. Miss my boy**

Eleanor's stomach drops. When she talks to Louis she forgets that they aren't together anymore. He didn't love her and she wishes she could say the same.

** EleanorJ92: **

**Should I post a picture of you to get the fans all excited?**

** LouisT91: **

**Sure**

Eleanor opens her gallery and scrolls to the album labeled 'Louis'. The album is filled with picture of Louis, some with Eleanor and some without. Some of the photos were taken by her, but most were screenshots of cute pictures she found on Instagram. She decides on a picture from his mother's wedding she had Lottie take. It was the last night they were properly together.

** EleanorJ92: **

**EleanorJ92:**   **Best friend and boyfriend! I'm so lucky**


	24. Chapter 24

The tour is finally over. Well, it ended for Louis three days ago, but he's just getting home now. Eleanor picked him up from the airport and the pair is now a few minutes away from Louis' Doncaster home. 

"I can't believe I'm finally home," Louis sighs. Eleanor laughs lightly. Louis can tell something was going on, but he doesn't want to bring it up. He watches her fingers drum the steering wheel as she bobs her head to the new hit 'All About That Bass' by Meghan Trainor. If Louis' being honest he doesn't like the song. 

Louis' eyebrows furrow when they pull up to the house. There's a car that Louis doesn't recognize. Louis slowly gets out and heads to the boot to grab his things. He glances over to Eleanor who could barely contain a smile. Something was seriously going on. 

Louis takes as many bags as he can as he heads to the door. Normally, one of his sister's would've noticed him pulling up and everyone would come out to greet him and help take his things in. However, nobody comes. It's nearly noon and Mum never lets anyone sleep in that late, so they have to be up. Did they not see him?

He brings his hand up to the door and knocks. He waits a moment and turns to look at Eleanor, who's smiling from ear-to-ear at this point. She knows something. "How come nobody's coming to the door," Louis asks. Eleanor shrugs teasingly. Louis' has it with her. 

He goes for the doorknob and gasps when it allows him in. Mum never leaves the house unlocked. "Guys, the door was unlocked, so I--," Louis stops when he sees the group in front of him. 

A home-made banner is strung from the ceiling. He sees his Mum and Stepdad standing by a cake in the kitchen. Lottie's smiling wide by the front door. He glances across the lounge and sees Phoebe and Daisy sitting on the sofa. He figures Doris and Ernest are taking a nap in their room. Louis notices Fizzy last, standing in the corner of the room trying hard not to cry. 

"Welcome home," They call. Louis rolls his eyes, but smiles anyway. It's cheesy of them to throw a surprise party, however he can't be more pleased. 

He drops his bags to the ground and brings Lottie in for a tight hug. He feels two more sets of arms attack his waist. Louis pulls back from Lottie to bring Phoebe and Daisy into hugs. "We missed you Louis," Phoebe mutters. Louis kisses their cheeks. 

"I missed you two Baba," Louis replies. Phoebe and Daisy let go of Louis so he can bring Fizzy in for a hug. She stuffs her face into Louis' neck and cries hard as Louis hugs her. Fizzy is always the more emotional sister when Louis comes home from tour. 

"Missed you Fizz," Louis whispers. She pulls away and wipes her eyes. Louis gives her a smile and tickles her sides. She laughs loudly and hurriedly pushes him away. Louis loving hearing her laugh.

Louis turns to his mother and sighs. He always misses her the most. Jay brings Louis in for a tight hug. Louis can already feel the tears starting to make their way to his eyes as he hugs his Mum tightly. As much as Louis loves touring, he hates being away from his family for so long. 

"Louis!" 

Louis pulls away from his Mum at the sound of the familiar voice. No, it can't be. Louis turns and sees Harry. He's wearing a white shirt that compliments the tattoos that litters his left arm. Harry wears a pair of black skinnies and his hair is pushed out of his face with a bandanna. He looks breath-taking. Louis forgets to breathe for a second, but quickly pushes out multiple breaths at once as Harry attacks him in a hug.

Sure, Louis missed his siblings and family a shit-ton, but he also missed Harry. He only knew the boy for four months, but it feels like longer. Louis presses his face into Harry's shoulder. He quickly pulls away when he feels his siblings' eyes piercing him. They didn't know and they couldn't. Phoebe and Daisy had a hard time keeping secrets and Louis knew Fizzy would probably slip-up. 

"Missed you," Louis says weakly. Harry gives him a small frown, but Louis can't explain. He knows it'll be hard telling Harry the news. Louis' heart is already starting to break just thinking about it. 

"The roast will be done in a few minutes," Jay announces. She turns to Louis, "After dinner we're talking about tour!" Louis nods. His mum loves to hear about the tour and the fans and the music. She always has Louis sit down and talk about it for her. 

Louis turns to Harry and gestures for them to head to Louis' bedroom. He knows he won't have alone time with Harry after dinner. When they get to his bedroom they lock the door so none of Louis' sisters could sneak in. 

"Kiss me, please," Louis demands softly. Harry takes a quick step forward and captures Louis' lips in a kiss. Louis sighs deeply and rests his hands on Harry's hips. Harry's hands go up to Louis' cheeks as they kiss harder. 

"Miss you," Harry sighs in between kisses. Louis hums in response, too focused on kissing the younger boy. This was what he missed most. Besides singing, Louis' favorite thing to do was kiss Harry. It was a new drug and Louis knows he'll never get over it. 

Louis pulls back. His eyes look over Harry's face. He can't believe he's dating Harry. The fact always confuses Louis. He can't believe that he gets to stand here and kiss the boy. Louis can't believe that he gets to call Harry his boyfriend and hug him tightly. 

"You're my boyfriend," Louis says matter-of-factly. Harry smiles and pecks Louis' lips again. Louis loves the way it sounds. Boyfriend. Boyfriend, boyfriend, boyfriend. Harry is Louis' boyfriend.

"I am, aren't I," Harry teases. Louis feels bad. He knows he has to tell Harry something and he doesn't want to. He doesn't want to ruin the good mood with bad news, but he knows he can't keep it from Harry. Harry has to know. 

"I'm leaving for LA in a week."


	25. Chapter 25

Johannah smiles as she sees Anne at their cafe. Anne waves her over to the familiar table in the back. She takes the seat across from Anne as she passes Jay her drink.

"Hello, how are you," Anne asks. She pulls her sunglasses up on top of her hair and sighs loudly.

"I'm fine. Hardly had any downtime in the last few days, but it's okay. I don't mind being a Super Mum," Jay explains. Anne gives a small nod and sips on her drink.

Louis' spending the next few days at their house until he flies back to Los Angeles. He would be leaving in four days, but nobody was ready to say goodbye. Johannah loves seeing her son so happy and doing what he loves, yet never having him home made her heart hurt. She's glad she has six other kids to love and fill the hole.

"I invited one of my other friends, Karen, along. I think I told you a little bit about her, right," Jay asks. Anne nods.

It's been a while since Johannah and Karen caught up. They used to go out together about every month or so, but life gets in the way. Johannah likes to say that Karen and she are the closest of the One Direction mum's (which is a bold statement considering the amount of time Laura and Trisha spend together).

"I think I remember you talking about her, yea. Her son is in the band with Louis, right?" Johannah nods back at her. A moment later the door to the cafe chimes. She turns and sees Karen make her way into the shop. Jay smiles and brings the other woman into a hug before inviting her to sit down.

"Oh, you're the lovely woman Jay can't keep quiet about! You look great! I'm a hugger, sorry," Karen laughs and brings Anne in for a quick hug. Jay watches Anne's eyes widen and tries not to laugh. Johannah guesses she should've warned Anne about Karen's touchy personality, but it's too late now.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Anne. You must be Karen," Anne introduces. Karen blushes and takes her seat again.

"How've you been, Jay? How're the kids? Louis doing good?"

"I've been good. We had a welcome-home party for Louis the sixth. The girls are doing amazing, Dan's good. Louis has to fly back to America in a few days, so he's a little bummed we all are," Johannah explains.

"Yea, Liam's heading back tomorrow I think it is. It's nice having him home for a few days, though. He likes not having any real responsibilities. So, Anne, tell me about you. Johannah mentioned you had a son about Liam's age, is that right," Karen asks. Anne smiles and looks at her drink.

"I have two. My oldest is Gemma and my youngest is Harry. Harry's 20," Anne explains. Karen gives Anne a warm smile. Johannah is pleased with how well everything's going so far.

"Do Harry and Louis get on well then," Karen questions. Johannah turns to Anne. What are they supposed to say? They can't say that the two are romantically together. Anne shakes her head and gives Karen a small smile.

"Some people would say that they're really good friends, yea. They've uh... gotten to know each other quite a bit," Anne offers. Jay visibly relaxes once Anne answers the question. She was never good at lying, especially to Karen who always seems to know when she is.

"That's lovely then! I'm glad they get along so well. Louis deserves to have another good friend in his life!" Karen turns to Anne, "How's Harry handling it?"

Jay tenses. Why did Karen have to keep talking about this and bringing it up? Jay is shit at lying and she isn't sure how long Anne can keep this up. It's hard enough on Jay having to keep everything quiet around her own kids. It's too easy to accidentally slip up.

"Handling what?"

"Well, Louis' going back to America, right? If one of my good friends was leaving the country, I'd be a little down. How's Harry handling everything? They haven't known each other that long, have they?"

Johannah wants to leave. Sure, she loves Karen to death, but she's overly involved sometimes. Jay sees the similar trait in Liam. Louis is always telling her about Liam trying to figure things out and butting in and it reminds Jay of Karen. She guesses the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

"Harry's a little down about it, but uh... like you said they haven't known each other long. A few months and Louis just got back from tour, so it's mostly texting and such," Anne says. Karen gives her an understanding nod. After a moment, she gasps and gives Anne a quizzical look.

"Wait! Liam was telling me that he helped Lottie, Eleanor, and a boy go out and surprise Louis after one of their concerts. That wouldn't've been your boy, would it?"

That's it, Johannah officially wants to leave. Anne moves in her seat awkwardly and takes a rather long sip of her drink. Jay coughs and speaks up.

"Yea well, Lottie and Harry are really close and uh... Lottie wanted to bring Harry along to show him California. Lottie and Harry are maybe even closer than Louis and Harry. You know how Lottie is, always social and always wanting to make friends. She just loves showing people new places, so she just couldn't give up the opportunity to show her new friend around. It wasn't to surprise Louis at all and it was completely coincidental for Harry to be there," Jay lies. She laughs a little too loudly and sips on her drink afterwards. Karen looks between Anne and Jay. Anne throws her a smile.

"Right," Karen mutters. The three ladies sit in an awkward silence. After a moment, Anne speaks up.

"Well, it's been nice chatting with you, but I've got to start back home. It was nice meeting you, Karen," Anne explains. She gives the woman a small side hug before dumping her empty cup into the bin. "I'll talk to you later, Jay," Anne explains before leaving the small cafe.

"I should be heading out too. I had a lovely time seeing you," Karen says. She gives Jay a hug and quick kiss to the cheek before heading out as well.

Jay sighs loudly. She has no clue how Louis effortlessly lies like that every single day.


	26. Chapter 26

Harry wakes up early to the sound of his phone ringer going off. The familiar sound of Little Black Dress fills his ears, informing him the caller is Louis. He groggily picks up his phone from the charger and answers.

"Hello?" Harry's voice is deep and rough. He can hear Louis suck in a breath before starting to talk.

"Hey, Hazza, so today is our one month anniversary and I'm on my way to your house. We're gonna go to Manchester for the night, so can you pack a duffel? Mrs. Twist said you didn't have anything planned for today or tomorrow. I hope this is okay," Louis rambles. Harry's sleepy mind doesn't quite comprehend all of what Louis' telling him, but he gets most of it.

"Yea, sounds good. See you in a bit," Harry hums. He hears Louis whisper a faint 'bye' before the call ends. After a quick shower and teeth-brushing Harry journeys back to his room. He decides on letting his hair do what it wants and pulls on pair of black skinnies. Harry manages to find a Calvin Klein shirt and pulls it over his head. He sighs tiredly as he pulls on a pair of Converse.

He shoves a few clothes into a duffel bag and starts downstairs. Just as he sets his stuff down to check his phone a knock is heard at the door. Harry smiles and opens it to reveal his boyfriend. Louis smiles.

Harry examines his tiny boyfriend as he stands in the door of his home. Louis wears a pair of tight black skinny jeans and a white top. The ends of his trousers are rolled up to show off the boy's ankles. Harry smirks  _you can tell a man by his ankles_. Harry notices the smile playing across Louis' lips from the time he's spent just staring at the older boy. He's gorgeous.

"Gonna keep staring at me or are we gonna go?"

Harry rolls his eyes and shoulders his bag as he follows Louis to his car. He sets his things in the boot and then takes the passengers seat. "So, what's going on again?"

"It's our one month anniversary, so I decided to surprise you and treat you to a trip to Manchester. I reserved two hotel rooms and we'll stay the night. I've got to leave early in the morning to catch my flight to LA anyway. Figure we could do some shopping and stuff," Louis explains.

"Sounds like fun."

~_~_~

Manchester is about an hour's journey from Harry's home. The pair are now sitting in Louis' hotel room. Harry's eyes flicker to the balcony which overlooks Manchester. He can already imagine Louis sitting out there having a smoke shirtless. Harry smiles as he sees himself situated between the boy's legs, Harry's own legs dangling over the edge of the balcony. It's a nice thought.

"Wish we didn't have to have separate rooms," Harry complains. Harry fiddles with the end of the comforter as Louis makes last-minute changes to his hair. Harry didn't know why the boy needs the touch up, but Louis explains that he'll have to take pictures in case they meet fans.

Harry hasn't even thought that far yet. They are in one of the most populated cities in England, so of course Louis would run into fans. Especially, if they aren't going out of their way to hide from them. Harry's stomach knots at the thought of someone recognizing him.

He never found it necessary to keep his identity a secret from his Instragram followers. Of course, it wasn't a personal account, so Harry didn't post  _every_  picture of himself on it. However, if he looked really good in one he wouldn't feel bad about posting it. So, all his followers knew what Harry looked like. What would they say if they found out Harry was friends with Louis?

"Lou, what if someone recognizes me? I posted pictures of myself a lot," Harry explains. Louis turns to look at him, surprised. Harry figures the other boy must not have thought about that possibility either.

"We'll handle it if it happens," Louis answers shortly. He walks over to Harry and presses a quick kiss to the younger boy's lip, smiling afterwards. Harry wraps his arms around Louis' small waist and presses his forehead into Louis' stomach.

"Can't we just stay here and cuddle all day," Harry groans. Louis unwraps himself from his boyfriend and shakes his head quickly.

"No, I planned a fun day! Don't worry, we'll have loads of time for cuddles at the end of the day I made sure of it," Louis reassures. Harry smiles and stands. He gives his boyfriend one last peck before they're both forced into the heteronormative box society pressures them into.

~_~_~

"I want to hold your hand so bad," Harry mumbles. The two were walking down a nearly empty road. The two boys managed to remain platonic for the majority of the outing. Of course, Harry found himself brushing hands with his boyfriend and giving him a quick kiss in the shadow of an empty alley.

"When we get back to the hotel room we can cuddle, yea?" Harry smiles at Louis' promise. "Have you had a good day?"

"The best," Harry replies. They give each other a quick glance. The pair is starting to get into a busier end of town and can't risk loving glances. Harry's very aware of how obvious Louis' Fond face is.

"You're just saying that because I bought you a pair of Chelsea boots," Louis teases. Harry blushes. They ended up in a shoe shop earlier and Harry couldn't take his eyes off of the boots, so Louis bought them for Harry. Harry was a stuttering mess all the way to the counter and wouldn't stop thanking the other boy. Louis shrugged him off until Harry finally understood that Louis didn't mind one bit.

"Stop talking about it! I already feel bad enough!"

"Harry, I don't mind. I've already told you."

"Yea, but I don't like people paying for me," Harry whines.

"Don't think of it like I'm paying for you. I'm giving back the money that you've given to me," Louis starts. Harry gives him a confused expression and Louis explains farther. "I've seen pictures of you from the Take Me Home Tour and those tickets were like £150, then all the albums you've bought, and add on posters and other magazines. That's not even counting all the time you've used up writing fanfiction--yeah, I know you've done that--, posting pictures, and covering songs. Come on, Hazza, the least I could do is buy you a pair of shoes... and dinner."

Harry opens his mouth to respond, but gets cut off by a fan. She's a sweet-enough looking girl with frizzy brown hair and brown eyes. Harry figures she's around 15 and holds her phone in her hand. Harry can tell she's about to start crying.

"Louis Tomlinson? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god! Can-can I... please get a-a photo? I can't believe this is happening! I love you so much," The girl sobs. Harry's heart melts as he sees Louis bring the girl into his arms and hug her tightly. It was the hug Louis reserves for fans.

"Sure, Love! Harry, do you mind taking a picture of me and... what's your name?"

"Jadie," She squeaks. Harry notices her shaky hands as she passes Harry her phone. Harry smiles as he takes the two's photo. He can tell that she'll never forget this moment.

A couple of fans join her next and pretty soon there's three or four girls surrounding Louis. Harry can tell that he has the situation under control as he tells them light-hearted jokes and compliments them. Harry smiles and walks a few paces away from the group, so he's not in the middle of the everything.

"Get out of the way, faggot!"

Harry turns and sees an annoying looking lad standing next to him. Harry glances around before assuming the guy was talking to him.

"Uh, excuse me?"

"I said get the fuck out of the way you Ball-Licker," He shouts. Harry's eyebrows furrow. He's never seen someone so blatantly homophobic in his life. He crosses his arms.

"I'm just standing here, you can walk around me. I wasn't doing anything to offend you so there's no reason for you to use such offensive language," Harry replies. He's proud of himself for his witty response. He sends a quick glance over to Louis and sees he's still caught up with fans.

"You with that fag Louis Tomlinson? A dick-sucking party? I'm not even surprised," The guy says. Harry's mouth falls open. Oh, no he didn't. Was this guy even thinking before he speaks?

"Like I said, you're being seriously offensive for no reason. We're minding our own business, so I would highly appreciate it if you'd back up and mind--." Harry doesn't get to finish before he feels a fist connecting with his nose and lower eye. 


	27. Chapter 27

The sound of a fist connecting with flesh brings Louis back to reality. He looks up and frowns as he sees Harry on the ground clutching a bloody nose. 

"Get away from him!" Louis can hear the distress in his voice as he hurries towards Harry. Louis looks up and sees a passerby holding back the guy that must've hit Harry. Louis' hands run across Harry's hair as he looks over his boyfriend's face. 

"Are you okay? Jesus what's happening? Did he hit you?" Louis knows that the fans that ha  been taking pictures with him are now probably shooting videos. He knows that he can't be too caring towards Harry in fear of them getting labeled 'more than friends'. However, he couldn't care less. 

"'M fine, my nose just hurts," Harry groans. Louis lets out a sigh of relief and helps Harry up. He angrily flips off the guy that had punched Harry knowing the cameras are filming him. However, he doesn't care if anyone captures the moment or his finger. The dickhead deserves it.

Louis stays close to Harry. He knows he shouldn't be worried about his bloody nose or swollen eye, but he is. He glances across his boyfriend's body and sees a slight limp. Louis' heart tugs and he instantly goes and wraps an arm around Harry's waist. The fall must've caused the limp, Louis concludes. 

"That's right you cock-sucking faggots! Do one," The guy screams. Louis clenches his jaw angrily and digs his fingers into Harry's waist without thinking. He hears Harry wince and instantly feels bad. 

"Sorry, sorry, sorry," Louis apologizes. Harry mutters a quick 'it's fine' as they continue to their hotel. Thankfully, it isn't much of a walk and they're there in minutes. 

They take the lift up to their floor and head towards Harry's room. Louis opens the door and ushers Harry in. "Let me get your nose cleaned up," Louis says. He hurries to the bathroom and wets a piece of toilet paper before joining Harry. 

"I'm fine, Louis, really." 

"No you're not, you got punched. Let me at least clean off the blood." 

"I said I'm  _fine._ You're acting like I've never gotten punched before. It's not a big deal," Harry argues. Louis' stomach clenches. This isn't the first time? Someone has punched Harry before now? 

"Let me clean off the blood and that'll be the end of it," Louis argues back. Harry sighs loudly and gestures for Louis to hurry up. Louis walks over to his boyfriend and stands between his legs as he slowly reaches up to dab his nose. 

Harry winces before Louis even touches Harry's skin. "I haven't even touched you, yet," Louis sighs. Harry grimaces. 

"It hurts, Lou," Harry complains. 

"I've gotta clean it off so I can see how bad it is. You need to ice it too," Louis throws in. Harry grumbles loudly and sags his shoulders.

Louis leans back in and gently presses the wet paper to Harry's nose. Harry tenses under his hold, but doesn't say anything. Taking this as a sign, Louis continues lightly dabbing away at the blood until most of it is gone. 

"Okay, all done, let me just grab some ice so you can ice it. It'll help with the swelling," Louis explains. 

"I know," Harry mutters. Louis doesn't want to think of younger Harry coming home with a black eye because kids were picking on him. He hates to think of the younger boy in pain. He shakes the thought away as he fills a clear-bag with ice from the ice bucket. He hurries back to Harry and gives it to him. Harry places the ice to his nose.

"How about we just order a pizza and stay in tonight," Louis suggests. He had originally planned on taking Harry out to a fancy restaurant, but those plans were long forgotten now. Louis wants to watch his nose and make sure the swelling starts to go down. 

"Yea, sounds good." 

Louis smiles. He's more relaxed now that he knows Harry's going to be okay. Louis climbs onto the bed and settles next to Harry. They sit in silence for a while. Harry pulls out his phone a moment later and opens Instagram. 

Louis leans his head on Harry's shoulder as Harry scrolls down his feed. Most of his feed is made up of shitty One Direction memes. Harry scrolls past them, maybe stopping to like a few. They stop as the screen is taken up by a picture of Louis. 

It's an older picture. Louis cringes at himself from back then. His hair is styled in a fringe and his eyes are dull. He wants to sob at how bad the picture looks. He can't believe there are people who thought Louis was attractive back then. Louis watches as Harry likes the picture multiple times. 

"Unlike it, that's a bad picture of me," Louis demands softly. Harry looks over to him and rolls his eyes. Harry screenshots the picture and sticks his tongue out teasingly. 

"No such thing as a bad picture of you," Harry replies. Louis shakes his head, but doesn't try to argue. He knows Harry has seen the bad pictures of him, but he also knows how fans act. Louis could never understand why people think he's flawless. 

Harry takes the bag of ice from off his nose and places it on the floor next to the bed. He was only supposed to have it on for twenty minutes at a time.

They continue to scroll, but stop as they see a picture of Harry and Louis together. It isn't a posed photo. The two boys are standing next to each other. The pair are smiling widely and standing fairly close. Louis watches Harry's eyebrows knit together as he reads the caption. 

**CurlyCat1696:  So Louis' in Manchester and fans were taking picture. This photo came out but isn't that @Harry_Styles ?? He was the old owner of DefendingLouis but then changed the account... right? I stg am I seeing things or...**

Louis frowns and watches as Harry goes through a few of the comments. 

**MissYouAlwaysLWT:  Yea!! I remember him! Strange... **

**Hortons_Curls:  That's weird. I know thats him tho. Someone should dm him and see. @RipJayTD aren't you and him friends?**

**RipJayTD: I've dmed him but he hasn't responded. I have no clue what's going on @Hortons_curls**

**CurlyCat1696: @RipJayTD @Hortons_Curls What if they're actually friends? That might be why Harry changed his account because he's friends with Louis now? Maybe Zouis isn't real...**

**RipJayTD: @CurlyCat1969 Maybe that's what they want us to think. Zouis is real. 1000000% no way it isn't. I bet Harry changed his account so that people think it isn't real and try and convince us**

**Hortons_Curls:  @RipJayTD sounds like a lot of work. I think it just isn't real anymore   **

**RipJayTD:  @Hortons_Curls think what you want, but I know Zouis is real **

**LouisT78:  Idk about Zouis, but they look cute. The fans were saying that they were standing super close and smiling a lot. Maybe we've had it wrong the whole time**

**CurlyCat1696: So you think Louis and Harry are a thing? Idk fam that sounds like a stretch @LouisT78**

**LouisT78: Maybe **

Louis watches as Harry opens his DMs and clicks on someone named RipJayTD. 

** RipJayTD:  **

**Long time no chat. What's up?**  

**RipJayTD:**

**You hung out with Louis Tomlinson?**

** RipJayTD: **

**Is Zouis real?**

** RipJayTD: **

**Harry!**

"What are you going to tell her," Louis questions. He takes his head off of Harry's shoulder so he can see better. Are people really thinking Louis and Harry are dating just from one picture of them standing close like that? Louis' taken pictures with loads of his other friends and nobody ever thought they were dating.

**Harry_Styles:**

**Yea Louis and I are friends and we're hanging out now. Went to Manchester together. You know how our mums are friends and we just started hanging out more. Changed my account up because of it. Zouis isn't real sadly. Sad days everywhere. Eleanor is super nice though.**

** RipJayTD: **

**Wait... are you with Louis now?**  

"Wait, how big of a fan is she? Should I send her a video?" Louis explains. This might be his ticket out of the Zouis rumors. Him and Zayn might be able to be friends again if Harry is able to convince this fan that Louis and Zayn aren't actually dating. 

"She's a pretty big fan. If you want to send a video of yourself then sure." Louis nods. He likes talking to fans and sending them little videos. He wishes he could send videos to all his fans, but he knows it's too much and that it's not realistic. Harry opens his camera and signals for Louis to start. 

"Hi! I'm Louis from One Direction! Harry said you're a fan and I just wanted to say thank you so much and I hope you liked Midnight Memories," Louis says. He gives the camera a last little wave before Harry ends the video. 

"She'll die," Harry laughs. He sends the video to his friend and moments later she blows up the chat. 

** RipJayTD: **

**OMG NO YHOU DIDN'T**

** RipJayTD: **

**OMG LOUIS TOMLINSON JUST SAID HI TO ME YOU HAVE TO BE KIDDING ME**

** RipJayTD: **

**OML ARE YO U WITH HIM NOW? TELL HIM I LOVE HIM OML OWIAHGOWGOWRGR**

Louis smiles as he sees how happy it makes fans to get noticed. "Can I," Louis asks. Harry shrugs and hands his phone over to Louis and starts typing. 

** Harry_Styles: **

**Hi ! Thanks for all the love ! Love you too ! ~Louis**

"Louis if you keep this up, she'll  _actually_ die," Harry warns. Louis hands Harry's phone back to him. Harry turns his phone off and connects it to the charger. Louis sighs and wraps his arms around Harry's small waist. 

The mood shifts from light-hearted to heavy as the two boys cuddle into each other. They have been avoiding the topic of Louis' departure all day.

"I'll be gone in the morning," Louis reminds him quietly. Louis doesn't want to think about having to leave, but he knows it's going to happen. There's nothing he can do it stop it. He wishes he could stay here forever with Harry. 

"Okay," Harry whispers. Harry moves so his head is pressed into Louis' neck. Louis presses a kiss to the top of Harry's head lovingly. "I'm getting too used to saying goodbye to you, Louis," Harry points out. 

"I know, Hazza, I know." 


	28. Chapter 28

Liam shifts on the couch he's sitting on as he waits for Louis to come back and join him. They have already been in LA for a few days now trying to readjust to life off the road. Most people assume that the four boys will be sick of each other after spending months on the road, but Liam and Louis always miss each other.

"You didn't say whatcha' wanted, so I just brought two Coke's," Louis explains. Liam shrugs and takes the soft drink from Louis' small hands. Louis takes the seat opposite Liam as Liam opens his drink and takes a few sips.

Liam doesn't want to mention anything, but Louis has been looking down lately. Most people wouldn't have been able to tell the slight shift in the older boy's emotions, however Liam knows Louis well. A small frown sits across Louis' thin lips as he sips from his drink casually.

"What's wrong," Liam asks. It isn't Liam's fault he's always been nosy. Louis always teases him about it, but he just likes knowing things. Liam doesn't want to press Louis too hard, but he must know what's troubling his friend.

"Nothin', just feelin' down I guess," Louis sighs. The answer doesn't sit well with Liam and he can tell Louis' lying.

"Seriously, what's up Tommo?"

Louis shifts in his seat again and sets his drink down. Liam watches hesitantly as Louis runs his tongue over his lips clearly thinking something over. Liam prays that everything is alright with his best friend.

Liam remembers Louis telling him that he had broken up with Eleanor, but Liam isn't sure if he believes it or not. Louis also mentioned at the time that he was seeing a guy. However, Louis told him later that things didn't work out with the guy and that he got back with Eleanor. Liam wonders if the problem of Louis' sexuality is what's bothering him. Liam knows first hand how hard it can be trying to figure out your sexuality.

"Remember that guy I said I was seeing?"

Liam remembers well. Louis always got blushy when the topic got brought up, which wasn't often. He'd smile so wide that his eyes would crinkle and his signature Sunshine Smile would play across his lips. Liam also noticed how much happier Louis had looked when he was supposedly seeing the guy. The significant change in Louis' mood wouldn't be something Liam could forget easily.

"Yea, but you said it didn't work out and that you got back with Eleanor," Liam reminds. Louis tenses quickly and sucks in a deep breath. Liam's eyebrows furrow.

"Truth is, we're still seein' each other. 'Course we're staying on the down-low. Eleanor's agreed to bread for me, though, so I don't think we need to bother tellin' Simon. Even if she didn't want to beard I'd say fuck him, he's given us troubles since day-fuckin'-one. I've got now clue why I've still gotta go and report shit to him like I'm a fucking toddler," Louis explains.

Liam tenses at Louis' string of curses. Nobody in the band likes Simon, but none of them curses their boss out either. Zayn, Niall, and Liam try their best to stay on Simon's good side, while Louis seems to do the complete opposite. Liam decides to shift the conversation to something Louis would like. "So, what's the lad like?"

Louis immediately relaxes and smiles. Liam can tell the boy must mean a lot to his friend. He watches as Louis slowly looks up and beams with happiness. Liam wants to capture the moment of pure bliss. This is one of the times that Louis ever truly looks happy.

"He's just so cool and really soft. I was scared that being with a guy would be different because guys are seen as rough or whatever, but he's really soft. He gives the best hugs and he's an amazing kisser. I swear I'm glued to his lips whenever we're together. He's younger then me and it makes things a little cuter. He's going through Uni at the moment, but he's talkin' about dropping because it just doesn't suit him. He's just... amazing. I want you guys to properly meet him, but like I said we're on the down-low," Louis explains.

Liam tries to imagine someone like that in his head, but his mind comes back blank. He's never heard Louis talk about someone like that and Liam will admit that it's throwing him off a little. However, he's over the moon that someone's made Louis genuinely happy.

"He sounds like a good lad. Hope we get to meet him someday soon," Liam winks. Louis rolls his eyes and sips from his drink again. Liam wants to be nosy and push the conversation farther, but he knows that he shouldn't. He's already pressured Louis about it enough for one day.

"Have ya spoken to Zayn," Louis asks.

Liam's stomach knots. The name makes him cringe and he hates it. Liam tries his best to hide his obvious distaste towards his other band mate. It isn't like Liam  _hates_  Zayn. He hates Zayn's homophobia. Liam knows that Zayn isn't homophobic and he hates that Zayn still acts homophobic.

"No," Liam answers. He isn't trying to snap at Louis, but once the word tumbles out Liam realises how snarky the word sounds.

"He's been ignoring my calls. Talked to Niall yesterday and he was saying that Zayn was avoiding him too. Must be in one of his bad spells," Louis shrugs.

Zayn gets bad spells. It's not because he's sick or anything, but there's times when Zayn goes off the grid and loses his mind a bit. The other three boys call it a bad spell. During his bad spells, he's more likely to go against Simon and be more rebellious. His bad spell last year is what caused Louis and him to smoke a joint and film it. Some spells are worse than others, but last year was a bad one. The three boys have been praying this one is a quieter one.

"Must be," Liam mutters. As much as Liam distastes Zayn, he still has a soft spot for his ex-boyfriend.


	29. Chapter 29

Louis shifts on the sofa he's sitting on as the interviewer talks. Liam's sat next to him and Niall's on the other side of Liam. Louis looks over and sees Zayn sitting on the arm rest of the couch. Louis and Zayn aren't allowed to sit next to each other during interviews anymore because of the fan theories. Neither boy care about where they sit, so it never really bothers them. 

They're doing interviews to promote their fourth album, Four, which comes out in four days. Louis is beyond excited for the album to release. As soon as it drops he's Skyping Harry so he can watch his reaction as he listens to the album. 

"So, I know it's been a while, but I haven't gotten to ask how you're doing after the incident in Manchester," The interviewer starts. Louis' eyebrows furrow and he turns his attention to the interview. He turns to the other boys and realises that the question is directed at him. Louis immediately straightens. 

"Well, I think we all saw the video that was posted on Instagram. It showed a video of you and a boy and the boy got called something and was hit. Of course we then saw you sweeping into save the day and you escorted the boy away. If you don't mind me asking, who was he?" 

Louis clears his throat. "Uh, he's my mate, Harry," Louis answers simply. He curses the interviewer under his breath. He doesn't remember this question being on the set of questions they were going to be asked. He decides he'll ask Liam about it later (Liam's always careful about reading the questions and formulating an answer in case the other boys get stuck).

"He's lucky to have you then." The interview laughs and the Louis throws in a light chuckle. Louis glances at Liam, praying he gets the silent message to change the subject. 

"You know what, I was in Manchester a while back with Niall and we didn't get stopped by any fans. I remember thinking how strange it was, because normally we can't really go anywhere without being stopped at least once," Liam starts. Louis breathes a sigh of relief. 

"Yea, I remember that day! 'Course we always have ways to stay undercover when we're going out. You have to blend in and of course that's not wearing a cap and sunglasses and a hood, because that brings all the attention to ya," Niall explains. Louis fiddles with his fingers as the interview continues to ask questions directed at the other guys. 

Louis can't focus. He wants to pay attention to the interview and throw in side comments like he normally does, but he's just not feeling it. It's been nearly a month since he's seen Harry last and it's driving him mad. 

Louis' attention is brought back to the interview when he realises how loud Liam is talking. "'Oh management's told them to say that' or 'that's management on their twitter' or that's this or that's that. It's never that, like, there are a few tweets that management do do were they'll do a promoting tweet for us or something which, you know, they have to do while we're away doing something and they don't want to disturb us. Other then that, it's 100% us there's no lies, there's no secrets in the band or any... BS like that," Liam explains. Louis doesn't know what he's doing, but he hears himself speak up.

"I have a secret," Louis mutters. He thinks he's being quiet and sly, but he realises when the interviewer turns the attention to him that he hasn't been as sly as he thought he was being. 

"Go on, Louis." Louis can feel Liam glaring into his soul. He gives Liam a quick glance and sucks in a deep breath. He knows he's messed up now and Liam hasn't made it any less obvious. He knows Liam means well, but there's no need to try and deny obvious things. 

Management is always on Louis' social medias. The other boy's don't get it as badly as Louis does, but that's also because they don't rebel as much as Louis does. Louis hates Modest and he's very proud to admit that to people he's close to. So, management has control over Louis' twitter. 

"Uh, not telling you. Thank you very much for having us," Louis says. He glances off screen at their PR person and smiles. He feels like he's done a good job at saving the moment, but he knows he's fucked still. Louis can already hear Simon's voice in his head telling him off. 

The boys thank the interview and once the camera is off they stand and make their way backstage. 

"Way to go, Louis. I was trying to save your ass," Liam mutters. The two boys are walking side-by-side as they head to their car parked at the back of the studio. Niall and Zayn are walking ahead of them along with their PR person. 

"It slipped," Louis shrugs. 

"Would've been nice if you didn't slip on live television." 

Louis rolls his eyes. As much as he loves Liam, he can be too involved sometimes. Louis pulls out his phone to check his notifications when he sees he's got a text from Harry. He instantly smiles and opens it. 

** Harry  **

_Just watched ur interview. You got a secret huh?_

** You  **

_You bet_

** Harry  **

_Mind letting me in on your secret or is just too deep a secret?_

** You  **

_mmmm not sure if you can handle it. it's SO deep_

** Harry  **

_Im sure I can handle it. Ive been told Im good at keeping secrets_

** You **

_You cant tell anyone, but I have a boyfriend shhh_

** Harry  **

_OMG you have a boyfriend. No way! Whats his name. I promise I wont tell anyone!1_

** You **

_His names Harry. Hes super lame and a real dork. He wears jeans so tight they can barely go up his legs and his hair is always greasy._

** Harry  **

_Sounds like a total push over._

_I have a boyfriend too!_

** You  **

_oooo whats his name?_

** Harry  **

_Lewis_

** You  **

_Thats just cold Harold_

_Skype tonight?_

** Harry  **

_Yep!_

_Talk to you tonight_

** You **

_See you tonight lovely_


	30. Chapter 30

Harry smiles as he looks out his window and sees Louis' car. The crisp December air pushes Louis' fringe back and Harry watches as the older man grumbles and pats it back down. Harry excitedly makes his way to the front door and opens it. 

Louis' standing at the door. The sleeves of his jumper cover his small hands in a way that warms Harry's heart. Harry instantly feels himself grinning as his green eyes rake over his boyfriend's tiny body. 

"Louis," Harry sighs. The name sounds like sweet honey on his tongue as he brings the boy into a hug. He presses his face deep into Louis' neck as Louis' arms wrap around his mid-section. 

"Missed you, Love," Louis breathes. They pull apart and Louis gives Harry a quick peck before making their way to Harry's room. 

"Was your flight alright?" Harry shuts his door and gestures for Louis to make himself comfortable. Louis makes his way towards Harry's bed and takes a seat. Harry watches as his boyfriend brings Harry's pillow into his lap. 

"Yea, quite alright. I missed you loads, Harry, can you come over and kiss me? It's been way to fuckin' long," Louis explains. Harry smiles and makes his way to his bed. He takes a seat next to Louis and smiles as they connect lips. 

It's a warm feeling that Harry has a hard time explaining. The feeling spreads from his lips to his toes and twists his stomach into knots. A smile tugs it's way across Harry's lips as he rests one of his hands against Louis' cheek. Harry can feel Louis' stubble poking his hand, but he doesn't mind a bit. 

"Missed you," Louis mumbles. Harry pulls back and feels the happiness swelling in his chest. He can't believe he's finally with Louis again. It's been two months since Harry's seen his better half, but it feels like an eternity.  

Harry feels Louis' hands in his hair and melts as Louis softly caresses one of his curls. "You're hair got long," Louis points out. Harry rolls his eyes. 

"That's what happens when you're gone for two months," Harry teases. However, he knows he's hit a soft-spot in Louis. He regrets what he says as he sees the frown play across Louis' thin lips. 

"You know that I hate bein' away from you, right? I promise this isn't how I like doin' things at all. I'm just so busy and have to be in a million places at once. I'm tryin' to make time for you, but if I'm not makin' enough time please tell me. I feel like shit for not being around enough," Louis explains. Harry's stomach clenches. 

"No! I worded that badly, I'm sorry. I was only joking. I know you're busy and have a million things to do. Of course, I hate not being with you, but at least it makes moments like this better, right? You're doin' an amazing job, Louis, and I'm insanely proud of you. Four is amazing," Harry apologizes. Louis lets out a little sigh and visibly relaxes. 

They sit in silence for a while. Harry's hands are laced with Louis' as they sit curled up in one another. Harry's head rests against Louis' shoulder. Every once and awhile, Harry can feel Louis' thumb brushing over his in a soothing way. 

"Have you thought anymore about Uni," Louis asks. 

Harry sighs. He hates thinking about Uni. He's in the process of dropping out. Harry's not entirely sure what he wants to do, but he knows Uni just isn't right for him. His mother keeps persuading him to finish what he's started, but Harry has no motivation to finish. He has no purpose in life and nowhere he wants to go. He's lost and it's entirely too much. 

"I'm dropping out. I don't really know what I'm going to do, but it's just not working. I really want to start trying to support myself," Harry grumbles. 

When he reflects back on his life he cringes. He's 20 and still lives in his childhood home. Sure, it's okay when he's going to Uni, but since he's dropping out it'll just looks bad. He wants to have a job that he enjoys doing, but he's not sure what he wants to do. He sighs loudly at the endless possibilities. 

"Is your mum gonna keep lettin' you stay here if you're not in Uni?" 

"Even if she does, I don't want to. I want to find a place for myself. I've been thinkin' about trying to find a flat somewhere in London, but it's so expensive to live there. Gemma offered to let me stay with here for a little bit. I'm just not sure," Harry sighs loudly. 

"You can live with me," Louis suggests. 

Harry lifts his head off of Louis' shoulder and glances at his boyfriend. He pauses, trying to make sure he heard correctly. "You're offering to let me live with you, seriously?" 

"Well, yea, you're my boyfriend and people have been flatmates and have barely known each other. My LA house is pretty big and it gets lonely. Think about it, we wouldn't have to go months without seein' each other. 'Course I'm not makin' you, but if you want the offer stands," Louis says. 

Harry glances over Louis' face, trying to read his expressions. Questions swarm Harry as he tries to figure out how it'll all work. He can't just drop everything and move to America, can he? Will Harry be comfortable living in a house he isn't helping pay for? What would he do for work? What kind of documentation will he need? 

"What about work? I can't live with you and not work," Harry protests. Louis thinks for a moment then lights up. 

"You know, I have a friend who's movin' to America in January and was askin' about a nanny. I don't know everythin' about it, but he says he doesn't want anyone live-in. That could be a cool job, yea? You don't have to have a degree and me throwin' in my good word'll help," Louis suggests. Harry has always loved kids, so the idea of being a nanny is tempting. 

"Who's your friend? Do I know him?" 

"James Corden."


	31. Chapter 31

"I'm moving out," Harry says. The words slip from his lips before he has the opportunity to think up what he's going to say next. He watches as his mother and stepfather look up from the telly station, confusion written across their faces.

"Come again," Anne asks hesitatingly. Harry's stomach drops at his mother's request. He can't believe he's doing this. If he explains this to his parents then that means that the plan is going to happen and as much as he wants to move in with Louis, he's terrified.

The thought of dropping everything he's ever known is terrifying. He's only left England twice (once on a family holiday to France and the second to see Louis on tour) and has been on a plane journey that long only once. He hasn't a clue what Louis' like at home or how they'll divide the chores and bills.

Harry's done some research on moving in with a boyfriend. Louis already promised that he'd let Harry pay for groceries and do the cooking, while Louis would cover the more expensive things (considering the cost of just Louis' house is worth more then Harry can even comprehend). One of the over-ruling themes of what Harry read is that they need to stay independent. Harry's already told Louis that it would be best if they have separate rooms, so they have their own space. Harry read that it's a little thing that goes a long way.

He looks across his mother's face and he loses the hour-long speech he's planned. The script was in depth and explained all of Harry's feelings. However, looking at them now, he can't remember a word of what he was going to say.

"Uh, well... I'm going to drop out of Uni and uh... move in with Louis... in America," Harry murmurs. He fiddles with his rings and twists them as his mother's face drops.

"What do you mean you're dropping out of Uni? I thought you were pulling my leg when you suggested dropping out. You're not actually going to throw away your education, are you?"

Anne's judgmental words burn into Harry. You see, if he remembered his script he would've had a logical explanation, but now he's stood trying to form a simple sentence. Anne raises an eyebrow, waiting for Harry to explain. He chokes on his words and after a moment finally manages to speak up.

"I want to uh... go to America and live with Louis. Uh, I don't think that... Uni is right-t for me. Maybe, I-I can work on... music in LA. Louis-s has lots-s off... uh... connections in the music i-industry," Harry explains. He sucks in a deep breath.

"So, you want to drop out of Uni, that you're stepfather and I have been paying good money for, go all the way to America, move in with your boyfriend of three months, and try to become a pop-star, am I understanding all of this, Harry," Anne asks. Harry can hear the tone in his mother's voice and can tell she's about to lecture him.

He feels a spurt of courage grow in him. His plan isn't as dumb as she makes it sound and he knows that. It makes complete sense in his head and he has a job in mind to apply for. It's not like he's walking into this blind. Harry's done research on this and knows that he wants and doesn't want. He's researches how to move in with a boyfriend and how to make things work. Anne's making him sound like a  _child_  and, sure, Harry's only 20, but he's not going to make such a huge decision without researching it.

His eyebrows furrow as he looks over his mother's face. Her lips are pressed into a thin line. Harry's fueled with rage. He can't believe his mother is acting like this! She's supposed to support him, not treat him like a stupid child. It's not like Harry's running off to live with a guy twice his age that he met online. It's her best friend's son! The only reason Harry's bothering to tell her is because he wants to let her know. Legally, he can do whatever he wants.

"I've done tons of research! I know what I have to do in order to live in America and I already have a job waiting. All I have to do is impress the person I'm interviewing for and I get a job! I'm not some child trying to rebel against their parents to move in with some person he's never met! Louis' mom is your friend! You should trust her family and me," Harry protests.

Robin's eyebrows rise in shock at his stepson's outburst. Harry knows that he shouldn't have shouted at his mother like that, but it's too late to eat his words now. His mother coughs and straightens.

"You're right. If you want to go off to America and ruin your education you go right ahead and do that. I'm your mother, so I'll support you in whatever. As much as I don't agree with what you've obviously already decided on doing, I can do nothing to stop you. If things go wrong or if you'd ever like to come home, our door will always be open," Anne answers.

She looks between Robin and Harry. Robin shrugs, knowing when to stay out of a mother-son discussion. Harry's displeased with his mother's response, but he knows that she'll come around eventually. She's always pushed Harry to pursue an education and she's obviously upset that he's throwing away the opportunities others would die for.

Anne stands, places a quick kiss on Harry's cheek, and leaves for her bedroom. Harry sags his shoulders, dishearteningly. "Don't take it personally, Harry, you know how she gets with education. I think Louis is a remarkable lad and I wish you the best in Los Angeles," Robin explains. Harry pulls a small smile across his lips. Sure, his stepfather's approval is nice, but his mother's would be nicer.


	32. Chapter 32

Louis smiles when he hears his door bell go off. He stands and opens the door to reveal his boyfriend. His smile widens even more as he brings Harry into a giant hug. He can feel the boy's cotton jumper rub against his face. Louis almost reaches forward and kisses the taller boy, but stops himself when he remembers his friends are there.

"Missed you," Louis sighs. Harry pulls back and shows Louis a wrapped box. The box was medium sized and the wrapping paper read 'All wrapped up for Christmas'. A golden bow is taped to the top corner.

"Wrapped it myself, even has a little bow," Harry points out. Louis rolls his eyes teasingly and takes the present from Harry. He sets it with a few of the other presents the other lads have brought him.

He's throwing a small birthday get together for himself. He only invited his three bandmates and Harry to keep it small and more intimate. Louis feels like these are the only people can he can be himself around.

"Took you long enough. We've been sittin' here waitin' on you for ages," Niall moans. Louis pushes the fake-blond over to make room for Harry on the couch next to him. Harry walks towards the couch and squishes in next to Louis.

Louis knows that Harry's still awkward around the other guys. He knows it'll take some time for Harry to get to know them and get used to them being around before he's entirely comfortable with them, but he's slowly getting there. Louis can see that Harry is getting more comfortable with Niall every day and that Niall likes having Harry around.

"So, what's the plan," Liam asks. Louis glances over to Liam who's sitting on the floor. He thinks for a moment before answering.

"I'm thinkin' order in some pizza, watch a film, maybe play some FIFA. I just wanna chill with my best mates, you know," Louis offers. Zayn excitedly stands and goes to put in the FIFA game. Too many times Louis had Zayn over for FIFA. The boy is practically glued to it.

Niall, on the other hand, immediately stands and goes to the kitchen to order a pizza. He knows his friends well enough to know Louis' go to order (ham, pepperoni, double cheese, and jalapeños) along with Liam's (plain pepperoni) and Zayn's (chicken). Louis told him earlier Harry likes sweet corn pizza (to which Niall stuck up his nose, but agreed to order anyway).

Liam gets up and starts sorting through Louis' film collection, trying to pick out a good one. There's quite a few films Louis hasn't seen that he's bought. Normally, when he finds a film that looks good he buys it, but then forgets to watch it. The habit bothers Liam (which may also be why he does it).

"Am I supposed to be doing something," Harry whispers. He looks lost among the other boys and Louis just shrugs.

"You're fine. They already know what to do and besides I like you sittin' here with me," Louis explains. Louis snakes an arm around Harry's back and smiles when Harry blushes. He feels Harry lean into his side.

"You playin', Harry," Zayn asks. Louis raises an eyebrow at Zayn's question. Zayn smiles as he offers Harry one of the PlayStation controllers. Harry glances to Louis and then back to Zayn.

"I don't play FIFA," Harry answers softly. Louis stops and straightens. Harry's doesn't play FIFA? Zayn's mouth falls and he hesitatingly sits on the open arm chair.

"Did I just hear that someone doesn't like FIFA," Niall asks. He enters the room and takes his seat on the sofa next to Louis. He glances around the room waiting for an answer as Liam pulls a movie from Louis' collection.

"Not everyone has to like FIFA, Niall," Liam adds.

"I just don't understand. How can someone not like FIFA," Niall mutters. Louis turns to Harry whose cheeks are bright red from embarrassment. He gives Harry's side a squeeze and smiles at him. Harry throws him a small smile back.

"Nobody takes Manchester! It's my birthday, so I get to be Manchester," Louis protests. He pulls his arm from around Harry's back and takes the forgotten controller Zayn had offered Harry.

~_~_~

It's later that night when the boys finally start to quiet down. The furniture has been moved so they could lay out blankets and sleep on the floor of the lounge. Liam is the first to protest about it, complaining that that's what spare guest rooms were for, but Louis clapped back with 'it's my birthday' which quieted Liam quickly.

"Why don't we just chill and watch a movie," Liam suggests. Louis shrugs and gestures for someone to put the movie in.

Harry and Louis are sitting next to each other, their backs against the sofa. Liam refuses to lay on the floor and decides to sit on the couch instead. Louis told him it would be a lot more comfortable for the boy to just sleep on the floor, but Liam's pride is too big for him to accept defeat. Zayn sits on the opposite side of the room from Liam and tangles himself in an assortment of blankets and pillows. Early on, Zayn had complained it was too cold and then wrapped himself in nearly all the blankets, leaving only his face to stick out of the mountain of comfort items. Niall is already half asleep in the middle of the floor, cuddled up in a blanket.

"How about we just go to sleep," Niall complains, yawning. Liam stands and puts the movie in, careful to step around the sleeping Irish boy.

The lights are dimmed already, so all Liam must do is put in the CD. Louis makes sure Zayn's looking on his phone and Liam's back is turned before he turns towards Harry and kisses him quickly. Louis pulls back trying to contain a small giggle.

As much as they didn't like being in the closet, both would admit they found it fun to try and keep everything secret around their friends. Both are trying to see how far they could go and have gotten away with many quick kisses while the other boys haven't been paying attention.

Louis doesn't know what movie starts playing and he doesn't really care either. Harry lays down and Louis follows suit. Harry yawns quietly and reaches for Louis' hand under their shared blanket. As the movie continues Louis finds it harder and harder to keep his eyes open.

Harry falls asleep after a while and cuddles into Louis' side under the blanket. With the constant purring from Harry in his ear, the extra body heat, and his already sleepy state, Louis finds himself slowly falling into a peaceful sleep.


	33. Chapter 33

Harry can't contain his excitement as he pulls up to his family house. It's Christmas day and his gifts are anxiously waiting in the back seat ready to be opened. Harry knows gift giving is his favorite part of the holidays. Don't get him wrong, he loves getting gifts too, but the excitement of watching someone open a gift Harry bought just for them puts Harry in a festive mood. 

His stomach knots as he remembers what he promised himself he would do today. He wants to officially tell his family that Louis and him are dating. Harry figures Robin already knows and Gemma's probably picked it up by now, but he wants to tell everyone so there's no confusion.   

Harry steps out of the car and takes a moment to breath in the crisp December air. It's only six, but he stars are already out leaving Harry soaked in darkness. The only light shines from the front of his house. He can hear the wind in the distance and the moving of the trees. The night is quiet other then that. 

As soon as he reaches the front of his house the door is thrown open and he's brought into a hug. He knows instantly that it's Gemma by her distinctive perfume. Harry sets his gifts on the ground and brings Gemma into a proper hug. 

"You brought gifts," She cheers as she unravels herself from her brother's embrace. Gemma loves gifts. She grabs Harry's gifts and brings them into the house trying to read the tags to see which one was hers. 

"The drive from London alright," Anne asks bitterly. Harry tries not to let his mother's snappy comments get to him, but they still sting a little bit. He thought his mum would be more open to letting him leave to LA and achieve his dreams. He obviously thought wrong. 

"S'alright. Gemma, yours is the small rectangle," Harry says. Gemma stops shuffling through Harry's gifts and grabs the tiniest box of them all. She frowns and shakes the box quickly. 

"When are we opening gifts," Gemma asks. Anne takes her apron from around her neck and sets it on the counter next to the oven. 

The smell of Christmas dinner washes over him and Harry smiles. Anne didn't go extreme for Christmas dinner, but she liked to keep it traditional. Normally, she did a turkey roast, roasted potatoes (Harry's mouth is watering already), asparagus, homemade cranberry sauce, and Christmas pudding. 

"Dinner will be ready in a few minutes, why don't you guys go sit down and catch up," Anne sighs. Harry takes this as a cue to leave. He tucks the remainder of his presents under his arms and hurries to the living room after Gemma. 

"Why's Mum in such a bad mood," Harry asks. He places the presents under the tree along with a few of the other gifts left behind. 

"Don't know, I figure it's because you're leaving soon and won't be coming back. Frankly, I don't know why she's in such a bad mood about it. She never got mad at me for leaving. I guess it's different since you're going all the way to America, huh," Gemma offers. Harry shrugs and lets the question fall unanswered. A moment later a loud sound brings Harry's attention to the doorway.

"Who's ready for the Twist/Styles Christmas dinner of 2014?" The voice belongs to Robin as he comes out of the kitchen wearing a full Father Christmas outfit, beard included. Harry tries not to crack a smile as he watches Gemma burst out laughing. Robin hands Harry and Gemma their Christmas hats and leads them to the table. 

Harry takes a seat and gingerly moves the cracker from off his plate as he starts to pile food on. Anne glares at him and he instantly stops. She offers her hand and gestures that they were going to pray. Harry grabs Gemma's hand and Anne starts. 

"Lord in Heaven, we thank you for bringing your son, Jesus, to Earth today and allowing him to die for our sins. I pray that you forgive our sins and bless the meal before us. Watch over Harry as he travels half-away across the globe to live with his this boy he's only known for--," Anne's interrupted by Robin's cough. She breathes deeply and starts again, "Like I said please watch over Harry as he goes off to live in America. Amen." 

Harry takes his hand from Gemma's and starts to pile his plate with food, praying the rest of dinner doesn't continue like this. 

~_~_~

"I'm assuming presents are in order," Gemma cheers once everyone's done with their plates. Anne sighs loudly, knowing Gemma better than anyone. Harry stands and takes his family's plates and sets them in the sink so they can be cleaned later before following his family to the lounge. 

"I'll sort them," Gemma volunteers. She goes to the tree and starts separating the gifts by name. In the end Harry's pile ends up being the smallest, but Harry doesn't mind a bit. 

"Youngest first, go ahead Harry," Anne explains. Harry gulps and grabs for a medium-sized box. He knows that the gift is from Gemma just by the wrapping. Gemma likes to go all out on her wrappings. She doesn't just wrap the box like everyone else, she has to decorate it. Harry opens it, trying not to completely destroy Gemma's hard work. 

He tries not to bust out laughing when he sees the small frog plush in the box. "I figured you'd need a house warming present," Gemma explains. The on-going joke in his family is that Harry resembles a frog. Of course, Gemma told Louis the first time they met and now Louis' in on the joke too even going to the extend of putting a frog emoji next to Harry's contact.

His other presents consist of nice blouses and random house appliances. Apparently, everyone assumed Louis didn't have any house appliances and bought everything from Homesense they could find. Harry thinks for a moment and considers the fact that Louis is actually shit at cooking and doesn't have half the things anyway. 

After all the gifts are exchanged the conversation dies down. Harry clears his throat and decides now is the best time, if any, to come out. "So, uh, as you guys may know. I've been hanging out with... Louis a lot more. I wasn't sure if you guys uh... knew or not, but uh... we're together... romantically," Harry explains. The room goes silent, but the tension is broken by Gemma. 

"You owe me £5," Gemma says to Robin. He grumbles and fishes the money out of his pocket and hands it to her. 

"You bet on me!" 

"Only on when you'd finally admit it. I knew you'd end up dating him since I met him. I bet you'd crack before New Years," Gemma explains. Harry rolls his eyes, but isn't surprised. Anne stands to go clean the kitchen and Robin follows. Gemma pulls out her phone and starts taking photos for her Instagram. Harry frowns as he feels his phone vibrate.

** ZaynMalik: **

**Merry Christmas! -Z**

Harry frowns. Why is Zayn messaging him? He thought Zayn hated him? He thinks back to Louis' party and remembers how nice Zayn was acting. Something is definitely going on. 

** Harry_Styles: **

**I think you sent this to the wrong person**

** ZaynMalik: **

**No I meant to send it to you. Its a mass message to all my friends**

** Harry_Styles: **

**Didnt think we were friends considering you always seem mad at me**

** ZaynMalik: **

**Things change**


	34. Chapter 34

"And this is the kitchen," Louis finishes. He raises his arm to show off the kitchen to a smiling Harry. Louis can already tell Harry is going to like being in here. The kitchen doesn't get used too often since Louis is shit at cooking, but hopefully Harry can liven the place up (and perhaps make sure Louis eats better.)

"This is... amazing, Louis, really," Harry breathes. Louis walks towards the grand table overlooking the garden and sighs loudly as he sits down. Harry sits down next to him and links their hands over the table. Louis can feel himself blushing and quickly tries to even out his increasing heart rate. 

Louis' become such a school-girl when it comes to Harry. At first, he was more relaxed, but now he can't do anything without blushing or  _giggling_. There wasn't a time when Louis ever imagined himself giggling. Harry's taken on a more relaxed personality now and can easily reach out and touch Louis without thinking. 

"I'll let you unpack," Louis says. As soon as they got to Louis' house Harry put his things down and demanded (nicely) a tour. Harry sighs quietly and stands. He walks over and places a kiss on the top of Louis' head before going towards the door and grabbing his bags. 

"Lou, will you show me where my room is again? There's like three spares and I'm not sure which one you want me having," Harry shouts. Louis groans and stands to show Harry the room he cleaned for Harry.

It isn't that Louis' untidy, it's just that he likes things. Completely random and meaningless things fill his spare bedrooms and empty space. Liam's always trying to get rid of stuff when he comes around, but Louis protests. He did manage to get one of the spares cleaned out for Harry to stay in. 

"Here," Louis points out. Harry points to the neighboring door. 

"This is yours, right?" 

Louis gives a quick nod, praying that Harry doesn't say what he's probably thinking. Of course, Louis cleaned out the spare room that's closest to his, but he doesn't want to admit that out loud. Harry, however, seems not bothered and enters the room. 

The room is simple. Louis wants to give Harry as much freedom to decorate his room as he wants. Harry sets his things down and pulls out a poster. Louis cringes as he sees the awful picture. It's the 'What Makes You Beautiful' poster where the photographer had the boy sitting in the car wearing awful clothes and giving fake smiles. Harry lays it on the bed and smiles. 

"I've had this poster since 2011 and I couldn't just leave it behind," Harry explains. Louis holds his arms across his chest. 

"You could've," Louis mumbles. Harry glares at him and continues to pull out clothes. It continues to surprise Louis that Harry's a fan. Of course, he knows that Harry likes their music, but it's shocking to be reminded that he's been in the fan base for so long. 

"I'm gonna unpack," Harry explains. It's a silent cue of 'you're not needed anymore'. Louis steps forward and pulls Harry away from his bags and into his arms. Louis wraps his hands around Harry's waist and takes a few moment to absorb Harry's scent. 

"I'm glad you're living with me," Louis sighs. He looks up and smiles at Harry. Harry smiles, dimples on display, and leans down to give Louis a quick kiss. Louis gives him a final squeeze before letting Harry unpack. 

~_~_~

A few hours have passed and Harry has the majority of his things put away. Louis was only slightly offended when Harry brought out the cooking supplies he got from his family for Christmas (what even is a whisk?) and after seeing the empty refrigerator decided on going shopping. 

"Why is kale on the shopping list," Louis points out. They walk down the street in LA, heading to the shop. Harry's the one that suggested walking (obviously not Louis, because why walk when you have a perfectly good car?)

"Because I like kale," Harry counters. He gives Louis a look that Louis gets from Liam quite frequently. It's the one that screams 'don't try it' that always makes Louis want to try it. Louis decides that keeping Harry happy is probably more important then teasing him, so instead he just makes a sour face and follows Harry. 

The pair stops at a crosswalk. Harry's looking around trying to take in everything he can. Louis admires Harry fondly. Harry's fingers are at his lips and his eyebrows are slightly furrowed. Grey skinnies cover his lanky legs and a Kiss band shirt covers his upper body. Louis' eyes travel down Harry and he rolls his eyes teasingly at his boyfriend's worn out boots. 

A pat on Louis' shoulder breaks his concentration and he turns to see a girl around fifteen. "Louis," She asks. Her voice is soft and close to breaking. Louis notices her bright blue hair and abnormally golden eyes. He sees another person standing behind her. 

"Yes, Love?" Louis sees Harry turn to him at the word 'love' and can't help smiling. 

"Can I-I... uh... get a p-picture? P-Please!" Louis notices the crowd around him and grabs the girl's hand gently and leads her away from everyone. He doesn't want to meet the girl around so many people and he's scared she might have an anxiety attack or maybe faint.

"We're on holiday and decided we would spend a day trying to find one of you guys. Heard you were back from tour," The relaxed one explains. Louis' shoulders tense at the their words. Of course he loves meeting fans, but it makes him uncomfortable to think that people will fly across the world to get even a glimpse of him. It makes Louis feel like he's some wild animal in a zoo. 

"Well, I guess it paid off," Louis jokes. The blue-haired girl anxiously pulls out her phone, but her hand is shaking so bad Louis' scared she'll drop it. 

"I'll take it for you," The other person offers. They take the phone from the blue-haired girl and motion for the pair to stand closer together. They snap a few pictures before returning the phone back to the girl. 

"Harry?" Louis turns to Harry when the teen says his boyfriend's name. Harry's eyes widen for a moment and then his jaw drops. Louis assumes the pair knows each other. 

"You're Obviouslarreh, right? I can't believe I didn't recognize you when I saw you," Harry says. He brings them into a hug and smiles. 

"Yea, I thought it was you, but I wasn't sure. Everyone's worried about you on Instagram. You haven't been responding a lot. The groupchat is practically dead without you," They explain. Louis watches the two pathetically. 

"We should catch up at some point! Message me later and I'll respond, I promise this time. For now we gotta go get some shopping done," Harry explains. The group gives a few last goodbyes before heading off in their separate ways. 


	35. Chapter 35

"I say fuck 'em, if she canceled the date that she planned I say fuck her," Zayn proclaims. Liam shrugs. Sophia sets one of her hands on Liam's thigh as Niall gasps. 

Liam glances across the room. Tucked in his arm is Sophia. To the left of them on the sofa is Zayn and Perrie. Perrie's head is in Zayn's lap and they cuddle. It leaves a nasty taste in Liam's mouth, but he doesn't say anything. Niall sits in a chair all to himself. 

"I can't say that to her! Just because she cancelled the date doesn't mean she doesn't want to date me. She said she had other plans," Niall explains. Liam rolls his eyes. He loves Niall to death, but that just doesn't make sense.

"Let's just watch the New Year's Eve performances. I hear Taylor's doing a song," Eleanor suggests. Liam tries not to groan at the mention of the singer. Of course he admires her as a performer, but she's hell to work with. Simon attempted to get her and Niall to do promo work together, however it never ended up happening because Niall was 'not famous enough'. The boys have held a grudge ever since. 

"How about we not," Louis grumbles. Liam notices how the two are sitting and cringes. He knows that they aren't dating anymore, but they're doing a bad job at pretending they are.

Louis sits against the wall lazily with an arm draped around Eleanor's shoulder. Every once and a while Eleanor will pretend snuggle into him. Liam can see that Eleanor looks natural, but Louis looks way to robotic. He wonders if Eleanor's still in love with him or not. 

Liam looks over to Harry who sits in one of the chairs. One of his legs are crossed over the other and he wears a bored expression. Liam notices Harry glance over to Louis a few times, but he doesn't think much of it. 

"What's wrong with Taylor," Eleanor asks. The boys look at each other and the room tenses. Perrie lifts her head out of Zayn's lap and gives a worried look to Zayn. Zayn runs a hand through her hair and motions for her to lay back down. She complies. Liam wants to throw up. 

 'You didn't hear," Harry asks. Liam gives a confused expression towards Harry. He's not sure how Harry ever found out about it. It'd make sense if Louis told him, but why would Louis tell Harry and not Eleanor?

"How'd you hear about it," Liam asks. 

"I thought everyone knew. Simon tried hiring her for PR and then she decided she was too good for Niall," Harry explains simply. Liam glances over at Niall. His eyes are focused on his lap and his lips are pressed into a tight line. 

All of the boys know it's a touchy subject. They've told Niall a thousand times that even if Taylor agreed it wouldn't be real, but he's still hurt by it. The only reason she didn't agree was because Niall wasn't the header for the band. Liam felt guilt for that considering it was mostly Zayn and him doing the solos at the time. 

Eleanor gives out a pathetic 'oh' and there's an awkward silence. "You haven't said anything in a while, Harry, everything alright," Zayn asks. Everyone in the room glances over to Zayn as the question comes from him. 

Everyone saw the obvious tension between the two. Zayn always would go out of his way to avoid Harry. Suddenly, they notice that Zayn's been making an effort to include Harry in what they do. Nobody's complaining about it, however it's definitely strange. 

"I'm fine. Just tired," Harry sighs. Zayn gives him a small smile. 

"Yeah, I think we all kind of feel that. Simon's been running us dry since we've gotten back. I don't think we've had a day off in a while," Zayn explains. Liam nods in agreement and so does Louis. 

"Louis says you're always busy, but I don't believe him half the time. I always figured he was just tryin' to get out of chores," Harry teases. Louis fake gasps. He grabs at his chest with one hand and his jaw drops dramatically. 

"Me? Get out of chores? I'm a very helpful person thank you very much," Louis gasps. Harry rolls his eyes playfully. 

"Okay, whatever you want to say. You didn't even know what a whisk was," Harry points out. Liam tries not to laugh. Louis's one of the messy people he knows and is shit at cooking. He tried making the other guys dinner once and it failed so miserably he had the tour bus smelling like tourched pasta for weeks. 

"In my defense you banned me from my own kitchen. How am I supposed to know the names of the kitchen appliances if you banned me from using them!" Liam fails at holding back a laugh. It wouldn't be the first time Louis got banned from the kitchen. 

~_~_~

The Time Square ball dropped nearly two hours ago, but it still isn't midnight in LA. The boys talk aimlessly waiting for midnight to approach. 

"10 minutes until midnight," Liam announces. He watches as Louis and Harry share a look and excuse themselves from the rest of the group. Liam shrugs it off and pulls his attention back to Sophia. He kisses her sweetly. It's probably their last kiss of 2014. 

"Any new year's resolutions," Zayn questions. Liam thinks for a moment, but nothing comes to mind. He never really made new year's resolutions, because he knows he'll never stick to it. 

"I'm gonna try to spend more time with my family," Niall explains. Louis and Harry rejoin the group just in time for them to explain their resolutions. They all nod and exchange the rest of their resolutions. Sophia's is kinkier sex (which causes Liam to blush), Eleanor's is to focus on school, Harry's is to exercise more, Perrie wants to get on the billboard charts, Zayn's is to eat healthier, and Louis' is to annoy Liam more. 

"10 seconds," Liam cheers.

"9!"

Niall shoves a fist in the air enthusiastically. 

"8!"

Louis smiles at Harry from across the room.

"7!"

 Perrie glances lovingly at Zayn.  

"6!" 

Harry smiles excitedly. 

"5!" 

Niall pretends to make out with his hand. 

"4!"

 Perrie and Zayn share a sweet kiss.  

"3!"

 Liam leans forward and connects his lips with Sophia.  

"2!" 

Louis and Eleanor lean forward and press their lips together quickly.

"Happy New Year!" 

Harry glances sadly at Louis. 


	36. Chapter 36

 

"I'm probably not goin' be back until late. Maybe two or so depending on how much Liam and I decide on drinking," Louis explains. He turns back to look at Harry. His eyebrows are slightly furrowed and his bites on his button lip anxiously.

"Just make sure to get an Uber home or catch a cab. I don't want you driving if you're going to be drinking," Harry reminds. Louis shrugs it off. This isn't the first time he's gone out clubbing, so he knows the drill. It's just the first time he's gone out since Harry's moved in with him.

"Does this look okay," Louis asks. Louis can feel Harry's eyes rake down his body, examining him. Harry folds his arms across his chest and smiles.

"You always look okay," Harry responds casually. Louis sighs loudly and leans in for a quick kiss.

"I don't have time for that, do I look nice or not? The cab should be here soon to pick me up," Louis explains. Harry's lips purse into a thin line and he shrugs.

"Yea, looks alright for a night out." Louis lets out a breath of relief and checks to make sure he has everything again. He doesn't know why he's so anxious to go out, but he is. He shrugs off the feeling of strangeness and instead tries to focus on gathering his things.

The car arrives a few moments later and Louis' quick to leave. He feels a little bad for not inviting Harry, but it's only supposed to be him and Liam. Liam's the one that suggested going out and Louis would've felt bad if he invited Harry without talking to Liam first.

Liam's already in the car, dressed in a simple pair of trousers and a shirt. "We're heading to The Argyle, right?" Liam questions. Louis nods quickly and buckles up after being glared at by the driver.

"No Harry? I'm surprised. You guys seem to be good mates," Liam says. Louis feels a smile creep onto his face, but he pushes it back down quickly. He clears his throat and shrugs.

"He's a good mate, yea. Didn't think to invite him, but maybe next time," Louis explains quickly. He wants to get off the topic of Harry before he starts 'fonding' as Harry says.

Louis never knew what Harry was talking about when he described the behavior. Harry only explained recently that 'fonding' was something Louis did quite frequently. He described it as looking and radiating love or admiration for someone (in Louis' case it was Harry).

"Niall seems to like him a lot," Liam presses. Louis just gives him a quick nod and pulls out his phone to distract himself. He sees a text from Harry and can't help smiling.

** Harry  **

_Be safe. Love you._

** You **

_Will do! See you at home_

~_~_~

The bass seems to pound into Louis' soul as he takes another sip from his drink. He shifts on the large red couch as Liam laughs loudly beside him. Louis would be lying if he said Liam isn't shit-faced. He pities the poor lad, because tomorrow he's sure to be hungover.

Liam turns to him and leans in close. "I stole Louis' toothbrush on tour once, but you can't tell him," Liam whispers loudly. Louis rolls his eyes and gives him a small nod. Louis promised Liam earlier in the night that he would stay relatively sober so they had someone leveled-headed to keep the other one safe. Louis regrets the decision now.

"I am Louis," Louis explains for probably the millionth time that night. Liam gives him a confused look and blinks quickly.

When Liam's drunk he spills every secret he's ever had. It's not a good thing for him, which is why Liam hardly ever goes out anymore. Liam's a pretty relaxed guy and doesn't have a lot of secrets to begin with, so it's never really a big deal anyway. One of the worst thing's he's done drunk is admitted to being pansexual, but everyone saw that coming anyway. Most of the secrets he spills are minor.

"Oh. Well don't tell Louis, Louis," Liam says. He laughs at himself loudly, probably proud of his joke. Louis wants to jump off a very tall building, but refrains from doing so. He watches as Liam attempts to flirt with a guy sitting at the table next to them. Louis cringes at Liam's poorly attempted pick-up lines.

Liam turns back around pathetically. He crosses his arms across his chest and pouts for a second. Louis stares at him, waiting for his friend to do something. "Oh! I remember! I have something to tell you," Liam says. The boy's pout turns into a smile and he leans in close to Louis.

"Come on, Liam, you don't want to do that. You're going to regret it tomorro--."

"I dated Zayn," Liam cheers. "But you can't tell Louis! Louis  _can't_ know, okay? Niall knows and Zayn hates me for telling him that and Zayn'll hate me even more if Louis found out," Liam explains.

Louis' in shock. The same Zayn that called him a faggot and says that gays are gross dated a guy? Not just any guy, but Liam? When did they date? They couldn't have dated while they were in the band or Louis would've caught on.

"When did you date Zayn," Louis questions. Liam furrows an eyebrow and thinks for a moment. He starts to hum 'They Don't Know About Us' quietly and Louis gets the point.

"2012? You two dated in 2012," Louis asks. Liam nods quickly.

"That's the number I couldn't remember. Ha, that's funny, 2012. That was a long time ago," Liam laughs. Louis wants to smack the boy. How can he just reveal something like that and then make jokes? This is a serious topic!

"Why did you guys break up," Louis asks. Liam's face changes to something more serious and he huffs in annoyance.

"I think I want to dance."


	37. Chapter 37

 

Liam can't anymore. He needs answers desperately. It's been three years since they've broken up and Liam doesn't know why he suddenly needs answers, but he does. He wants to be happy with Sophia, but he's not sure he can do that if he doesn't get answers.

Zayn's on his way and Liam already wants to throw up. He hasn't even seen his bandmates face yet and he wants to run away and hide. He paces quickly, trying to plan some kind of idea in his head of what he wants to say, but he can't.

The only thing he can think about are those stupid brown eyes and olive skin. Zayn's disgustingly smooth and silky black hair. The jawline that Liam teased him about endlessly, but loves--loved--secretly. Liam wants it all to stop.

A knock on the door brings him out of his trance. "Liam, it's me!" The voice belongs to Zayn. Normally, he doesn't let himself get worked up over Zayn.  _Normally_ , Liam can function around Zayn as long as he doesn't remember their relationship. As long as he doesn't think about how strong Zayn's arms were around his waist when they-- _no._

"Coming," Liam cries. His voice is shaky as he slowly makes his way to the front door. He opens it to reveal Zayn. He wears a small smile and a warm looking jacket. Liam stares at him for a moment before opening the door wide enough to allow him in.

"Thanks for inviting me over. I can't remember the last time we hung out, just the two of us. Normally you and... Louis are attached at the hip," Zayn says. Liam hears the bitter tone Zayn uses on Louis' name, but chooses to ignore it.

"I didn't invite you over so we could hang out and play FIFA, Zayn. I have to... I have to know what happened. One day we were together and happy and the next we weren't and... I need answers," Liam says.

Zayn turns to Liam with his eyebrows furrowed. He sighs loudly and slowly slips the jacket from off his back and sets it on one of the armchairs. Liam watches as Zayn takes a few steps around the living room and pulls a hand through his hair nervously.

"Why do you care? It's been three years. We agreed not to talk about it," Zayn hisses. Liam can already feel he's on the verge of tears. He can't tell if the tears are laced with anger or sadness, but he guesses it's a mix of the two.

"I know we agreed, but I can't... I can't move on if I don't know. I'm happy with Sophia, don't get me wrong, but I just... I can't be completely  _with_  her until I know why things ended between us," Liam says. His voice is shaky, but he manages to hold back his tears.

Liam makes the mistake of glancing at Zayn's arms. The 'Zap' tattoo is on display now that Zayn has taken off his coat and Liam's thrown into a painful memory.

_"Come on, Bear, like five more minutes," Zayn mumbles. Liam's heart races at Zayn's nickname. It started off as a joke, because Liam snored like a bear, but then Zayn started using it as an endearing term and it stuck._

_"We have to go before someone walks in," Liam protests. Zayn wraps his arms tighter around Liam's waist. Liam glances down and traces over the 'Zap' tattoo on his boyfriend's arm._

_Zayn nudges his face against Liam's bare shoulder and kisses it lightly. Liam tries to hold back a smile, but can't. He loves it. Liam glances down at their tangled hands and feet smiling. He has no clue how he ever managed to find someone as amazing as Zayn. Growing up, he was lucky if someone ever looked at him. Now, he has the attention of someone that could be a supermodel. Liam can't believe he can say that Zayn's all his._

Was, as in not anymore. Liam shakes the memory from his head and focuses back on the situation at hand.

"I thought we were better as friends. I told you that already." Liam refuses to believe that's the reason they broke up. He can't accept that as the actual reason Zayn dumped Liam as if he was rubbish.

"If my memory stands, the night before you told me that you loved me. It was our anniversary that day and you said you loved me. We were so happy that night and then the next morning I wake up to a note that says, 'sorry we're over'? I tried texting you and calling you and nothing. If you want to preserve our friendship you should've had the decency to at least tell me in person and not the day after our six-month anniversary! I'm sorry, but are my memories not right? Am I forgetting something?" Liam can't believe it. The repressed emotions come out and he's crying. Zayn takes a step forward, but Liam takes two back.

"I'm sorry, Bear--," Zayn starts.

"No! You don't get to say that anymore! You lost the right to do that when you wrote a note to break up with me! I broke up with Danielle to be with you, Zayn! I broke one of my best friend's hearts because I was under the impression you actually like me. If you liked me at least a little you wouldn't have done that," Liam shouts. Liam looks at Zayn, trying to find a reaction or to see what he's thinking. He can see Zayn's eyes start to go red.

"I'm sorry! I did love you, Liam, I promise you I did! I ended things with Perrie so I could be with you! I wouldn't have done that if I didn't like you, okay? You gotta believe that my feelings for you were real. I was young and didn't know any better. I didn't want to face you," Zayn cries. He wipes a few tears from his eyes and faces Liam. Liam wants to look away. He can't stand seeing Zayn cry. Even after everything Zayn's done to him, Liam still can't bare seeing the boy cry.

"You don't get to say you didn't know any better. You were old enough to understand that you were going to hurt my feelings by leaving the note. You broke up with Perrie, but then got right back together with her the moment we broke things off. You through me to the wolves that morning, Zayn. The only thing I want to know is the truth. Why did you break up with me?"

Liam can see the internal battle going on in Zayn's brain. He can see a trace of pain, but Liam doesn't feel bad. Zayn doesn't get to play victim this time. He wouldn't allow it.

Zayn's voice breaks as he says the last thing Liam could've come up with. "Dammit, Liam, can't you see? I'm in love with Louis and have been since 2011."


	38. Chapter 38

Eleanor brings her hand to the door and knocks twice. She anxiously waits for the person to answer, scared that someone else may see her. She doesn't know why she's so nervous, but she's terrified she'll be seen. The whole point of this outing is to be seen, however it doesn't help cure her nerves. It would be the first time her and Louis have gone out together since their split.

The door opens to reveal Louis. Eleanor notices his tired blue eyes and ruffled brown hair. He wears a maroon colored shirt and plain black jeans. He awkwardly moves out of the way to allow her in and she continues.

She can't believe how awkward their encounters have been now that they're not together. They used to tell each other everything and were so close, but now it's tense and neither know what to say. Nobody gave her a book on 'what to do when your boyfriend says he's gay and wants you to be his beard'.

Eleanor makes her way into Louis' house and waits for him to get ready. She isn't surprised when Louis runs off to put on his shoes and try to grab everything he needs. He's never been ready on time. She finds it relieving to find something so small and sure in a world that's so different now.

She sees Harry sitting on the sofa watching the telly. His hair is up in a bun and he wears only a pair of basketball shorts. Eleanor finds herself absentmindedly glancing across Harry's chest. Eleanor could definitely see herself flirting with Harry if she saw him in a bar or club. She prays Harry has a secret twin nobody knows about who she can claim for herself.

"Hazza, do you have a jacket I can borrow? It's a little chilly and I can't get sick," Louis asks. He comes back into the room with a different shirt on. The new shirt is white with a black skull on it. Eleanor figures Louis' stressing out about this as much as she is.

This is the first time the two would be going out and pretending to be a couple. They've done it a few times around their friends, but this would be the ultimate test. Eleanor has no doubt that she can fake the love between them since she still has slight feelings for the boy. It's Louis she's worried about.

"You've got jackets, Lou, why do you need one of mine," Harry asks quietly. Eleanor watches as Louis gives him a look and a quick tilt of the head. Harry's mouth opens and he gives a small nod. "There's a jacket on my bed. It's jean and has a white fur collar," Harry explains. Louis smiles and dashes off again.

Harry stands and makes his way over to Eleanor. Her heart starts beating faster and faster as he makes his way over. Eleanor never  _truly_  knows how to act around Harry. She takes in a couple of deep breathes and prays Louis hurries up. He comes back a moment later with Harry's jacket.

Louis walks right into Harry's arms and they share a quick kiss. Harry leans down to Louis' ear and Eleanor hears the last thing Harry says before they pull apart. "Love you, Lou," Harry whispers.

Eleanor's stomach fills with jealousy. She wishes someone cared for her like Harry cared for Louis. She had it once, but now it's only a fond memory.

~_~_~

"Hold my hand," Eleanor hisses. She can't believe she has to keep babying Louis. She would think the boy would know how to hold hands with someone, but apparently not. "If you aren't going to hold my hand right, then just put an arm around my waist," Eleanor whisper-yells.

Louis sucks in a deep breath and Eleanor wants to smack him. He's acting so childish. He's the one that wanted to do this to begin with, not her. Now, he's acting as if he's being tortured. Nobody's holding a gun to his head and making him and Eleanor go out together.

"Sorry, your hand is just not... right. It's too small. Harry's is huge," Louis whispers back. Eleanor rolls her eyes. She finds the couple cute, don't get her wrong, but Louis has been non-stop talking about him since they left. She's waiting for them to get out of their honeymoon phase and finally become  _people_  again. You know, the ones that don't talk about their partner every time a conversation is brought up?

"Why did you take Harry's jacket," Eleanor asks. The question has been eating at her for the last hour. She prays Louis answers simply and doesn't go into a long speech about their everlasting love.

"It smells like him," He answers. Louis gets quiet and Eleanor assumes that he has nothing else to say on the topic. She notices his small frown and gives him a reassuring hand-squeeze. She can tell that this must be hard on him.

"Oh my god! Oh my god! It's Louis Tomlinson. Louis! Louis," Someone shouts. Louis turns, yanking Eleanor around with him. Eleanor takes a moment to regain herself before she sees a boy and a girl making their way over to them.

The girl looks between them with narrowed eyes, but the boy is freaking out. He looks Latino with short black hair and olive skin. He wears a pair of skinny jeans and a t-shirt. Eleanor thinks she can make out a layer of mascara on his eyelashes.

"The one time I meet Louis Tomlinson and he's with Eleanor too! This is the best day ever! You guys are my couple goals, seriously," The boy shouts. He brings out his phone and asks for a picture with Louis. Eleanor shyly lets go of the boy's hand and watches as they take their picture. 

She catches the girl's gaze. She looks a little older than the boy, maybe a year or two, and is darker. Her hair is in multi-colored box braids down her shoulders. She wears a lavender jumper and a pair of black skinnies.

Louis joins Eleanor again and motions to take a picture with the girl. She shrugs and takes a smiling selfie. After however, she continues to stare at the two.

"You have a new roommate, right," She asks. Louis' eyes widen for a moment, but he quickly catches himself.

"Yea, how did you know," He asks. The girl shrugs and pockets her phone.

"Word spreads. It's Harry, right? He's a sweet guy. I followed him before he changed up his account. Tell him hi for me," She says. The tone in her voice gives Eleanor the creeps. She talks as if she knows something and soon enough she's gone. Louis and Eleanor share an understanding glance before continuing their walk. 


	39. Chapter 39

Harry pays the Uber driver as he exits the car. He looks up at the seemingly simple brown house and sighs, knowing it probably costs millions of dollars. Harry sucks in a deep breath trying to hype himself up. He knows that he's been around money before (he's dating Louis and he knows Louis has money), but this is so different. He could be  _working_  here. 

He runs a hand down his trousers to make sure they aren't wrinkled before making his way to the front door. After sucking in another deep breath he knocks. The door opens to reveal a boy who looks maybe three with curly white hair. 

"Max! What have I told you about opening the--oh, it's you! Sorry, come on in." Harry doesn't catch sight of the comedian before he's allowed into the house. 

He stops as he sees one of his favorite comedians. He doesn't look much different in person then on TV. The man's a little skinnier then Harry thought with blond hair and slight stubble. He wears a black button down with slacks.

"Max, why don't you go play while I talk to Mr. Harry here," He explains. Max, the boy, nods and dashes off to play in the other room. Leaving, James Corden and Harry alone. James motions for Harry to sit at a larger and intimidating table. 

"Loosen up a bit, I'm just going to be asking a few questions, no pressure. Louis wouldn't have recommended you if he didn't think you would do well," James reassures him. _'The only reason Louis recommended him is so they could move in together'_ , Harry thinks. 

"Thank for this opportunity, it means a lot to me," Harry says. James waves him off and gives him a small smile before starting the questions. 

"What made you want to babysit," He asks. Harry sucks in a deep breath. His brain automatically goes to _'the money'_ , but he knows it's not a good answer. He thinks about all the pretend interviews he's given himself growing up and decides on a good answer. 

"I love children and I think I could be really good at it," Harry answers. He smiles, proud of his response. James shrugs and folds his arms across his chest. 

"Have you worked with children in the past?" 

"Not officially, but I have watched my younger cousins before," Harry explains. 

"Tell me a few things about yourself. If you're gonna be working for us, I'd like to be able to get to know you and trust you to handle the children." Harry can feel his leg bouncing under the table and he places his hand on his knee to help calm himself down. He tries to find something interesting about himself, but his mind draws blanks. 

"Uh, I love music and I-I sing, sometimes. Not like Louis or anything, but I dabble. I grew up about 30 miles out of Manchester and have an older sister named, Gemma," Harry explains. He prays James doesn't ask him anything about singing. 

"How do you know Louis? He seems to like you quite a bit," James asks. Harry tries not to blush. He's such a schoolboy when it comes to Louis. He can't help himself from blushing at the thought of his boyfriend. 

"Our mums met in July and became friends and, well, you know what mums are like," Harry sighs. He purses his lips to keep himself from smiling. James gives him a strange glance, but shakes it off. 

"Of course, did you know he was famous when you two met?" Harry's eyes widen a bit and he takes a moment to try and answer. How is he supposed to tell his future employer that he was an obsessive fanboy? 

"Yea, I knew who he was. I was a big fan... still am! He's a real great guy," Harry says. He gives James a pleading look trying to communicate that he doesn't want this conversation to continue. As much as he loves talking about Louis, he doesn't want to accidentally slip up and say something he's not supposed to. 

"He is, he is, he's a great lad. So, why'd you make the move from England," James questions. Harry knows it's a bad idea to say he dropped out of Uni, but he can't lie. He's a terrible liar. He can't tell him he moved so that Louis and him could be closer, because that would mean telling him that they were a couple, which isn't something Harry wants to do either. He decides on a half-truth. It's not technically lying, right?

"I want to purse a career in music and LA is the best place to do that. Louis had an open bedroom and offered it to me. It's a win-win really, we get to know each other a little bit more and I get a jump-start into my future career," Harry explains. 

"That's a good business plan. Not everyone's cut out for Uni and I wish you the best of luck in your musical career. Once you get an album out there we'll have you on the show at some point," James promises. Harry gushes. He doubts he'll make it in the industry, but it's nice to know someone has his back. 

"Well, I have two kids. Max is my oldest, he's four, and Carey's four months. The job requires about nine hours a day. I'm here until eight and then Julia gets back at around five. We're both here on the weekends, however if I need you I may call you. Julia may need you to stay a little later in the evenings depending on how late she has to work, but usually you can count on her being here at five. During the days we expect you to cook for them. About once a week we'll give you some extra money to take them out somewhere. We have some movies and such and of course they'll have they're toys. Any other questions?" Harry's flabbergasted. He thought this was just an interview.

"Wait, did I get the job?" James gives him a strange look. 

"You were the only one we were looking at. The interview's just a formality." 


	40. Chapter 40

It's the middle of the day and Harry's home alone. He finds himself watching back old One Direction interviews. It's different to look at them now that he knows the boys. The interview he's watching now is from 2012 and looks like it was filmed around Valentine's judging by the heart cut outs framing the boys. 

Harry watches the interviewer as she pulls the boys back down for another question. "Have you ever embarrassed yourself in front of someone you've fancied? If you have, can you tell us about it," She asks. Harry's eyes are glued to Louis as he thinks for a moment then starts talking. 

"I have, actually. It's a funny story and I think it was more embarrassing for uh... her then me. It was the night before my X-Factor audition and I was stopping at the Tesco in Manchester. It was late, maybe midnight. I go in wanting to get a sweet before bed, right? So, I go in and there's this girl and she's... well attractive. I go over to the sweets section and she's down there too and I wanted to brag a little bit. So, I tell her I'm going to be on X-Factor tomorrow," Louis starts. 

_"I'm going to be on X-Factor tomorrow. So, I don't know why I'm still up. I really should be getting some rest." Harry looks up from the wall of chocolates and sees the boy a few meters down. He's cute, but not really Harry's type._

"Well, she turns and gives me a strange look. I've figured I've blown it at this point and she thinks I'm a giant creep. So, I figure just grab my chocolate and leave before I embarrass myself more."

_Harry notices the boy's haircut first. It's in a fringe across his forehead, barely touching the boy's eyebrows. His eyes are a soft blue shade and seem pretty and inviting. He couldn't be much older then Harry. The boy looks a little taller than Harry and wore a pair of loose trousers and a shirt._

"Well then the girl pipes up with, 'you may not want that chocolate, it's all caffeine. You'll be up all night and fail your audition'. I look down and notice that she was right and put it back down."

_"Thanks. This could be the opportunity of a life time and you probably just saved my ass." Harry finds himself entranced by the boy's voice. His speaking voice sounds lovely, so Harry assumes his singing voice can't be bad either._

"I notice that she had a few magazines in her hand. My thinking is: she saved my audition, she's cute, and it's a nice thing to do, so I offer to buy her the magazines. I think it'll only be a few pounds, but it'll be worth it if I get her number, right?"

_"How about I get your magazines for you? Since you saved my audition and all."_

"She immediately shot me down, but I insisted like a gentlemen. Finally, she buckled and was all blushy when I walked her to the front to buy them. They start checking the items and the bill is ridiculous, I mean like, ridiculous for a couple of magazines." 

 _"£50 for magazines! Oh uh... okay I mean... yea that's..._ jeez _." Harry wants to sob and run, but not necessarily in that order._

"I pay for them still because I said I would, but before I leave I jokingly flip one open and then I realize why it cost so much. It was a magazine full of half-naked men... a porno. She starts stammering and her face goes bright red. Nobody's saying anything because we're all in shock. She picks up her bag and dashed out and I never saw her again. I wonder how she's doing," Louis laughs.

_It wasn't a laughing matter, not to Harry anyway. He had been caught with three magazines full of half-naked bodybuilders. There was a reason he didn't want the other boy buying them. Harry figured he would never see the boy again._

_Boy, was he wrong._

~_~_~

It's nearly midnight when the door opens. "Louis, is that you," He calls. Harry stands and makes his way into the kitchen. He smiles when he sees his boyfriend's tired expression. Louis opens his arms and gestures for a hug. Harry steps forward and wraps his arms around Louis' waist. 

Harry wants to enjoy the moment, but all he can think about is the stupid interview. He can't believe Louis bought him porno magazines. Harry immediately tenses and takes a step back, no longer wanting to be held. The embarrassment is way too much for him to handle. Even though Louis is his boyfriend now he's embarrassed at the thought. 

"What's wrong," Louis asks. Harry can hear the concern dripping off of Louis' voice. 

"I was watching an interview earlier today and you were telling a story about a girl you bought porno magazines for the night of your X-Factor audition," Harry explains. Louis raises an eyebrow, then nods. 

"Yea, what about it?"

"It was me. It wasn't a girl you met, it was me. Mum and I were taking a little journey and I stopped at a Tesco late at night. I met a cute guy and he bought me porno magazines. He mentioned he was trying out for X-Factor the following day and a month later I find out he made it into, what would be, the biggest band of all time. A band, I would come to obsess over. However, the pure embarrassment that my favorite member bought a magazine for me forced me to push the memory deep inside my brain to be forgotten for all eternity." Harry bites his lip anxiously. He can't believe he admitted that. 

"You're right. I don't remember it being you specifically, but I know it was a guy. I couldn't talk about me flirting with a boy in an interview, so I changed all the pronouns. However, that's quite funny it was you. I guess my taste hasn't changed much. Do you still have them? From what I remember they cost a shit ton," Louis laughs. 

Harry blushes lightly. Of course he kept them. Even if the moment was embarrassing and he wanted to forget it forever, he met his favorite member of his favorite band. So, yeah, Harry did keep the magazines. Did he want to admit that to Louis? Hell no. 

"You still have them don't you? Oh my god, that's gonna make a great story for the grandkids," Louis laughs loudly. Harry blushes like crazy and hides his face behind his hands. Louis laughs and brings him into another hug anyway. 

"Let's get up to bed, it's been a long day and I wanna see those magazines," Louis explains suggestively. Harry groans and dashes upstairs hoping to barricade himself in his room. Before Harry can get his door open, Louis catches up to him and wraps his tiny arms around Harry from behind. 

"Lou, no, it's embarrassing," Harry cries. Louis rests his chin on Harry's shoulder and kisses the younger boy's neck lightly. 

"Hmm, fine, but I'm going to find them one day," He promises. Harry rolls his eyes and turns in Louis' arms so there facing each other. Harry glances across his boyfriend's face and gives him a quick peck. 

"My first day is tomorrow, so I should get to bed," Harry sighs. He's excited about starting his new job, but he's also nervous about how he'll do. Louis shrugs him off and gives him another kiss. 

"You'll do great. Do you wanna sleep in my bed or your own," Louis asks. Harry has his own room, but most nights the two end up falling asleep in Louis' room watching the telly or something. Some nights they plan to fall asleep together, but others they sleep in their own rooms.

"Yours," He responds shortly. 

"I'm gonna shower quick, but I'll catch up with you," Louis promises. He gives Harry one last peck before untangling himself and walking to the bathroom. Harry watches him walk away and wonders how he ever managed to get so lucky. 


	41. Chapter 41

****TRIGGER WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER: MENTIONS OF BODY HATE AND _LOW_  SELF CONFIDENCE!! IF YOU MAY BE TRIGGERED BY TALK OF BODY HATE THERE WILL BE '*' WHERE IT STARTS. THANK YOU!!****

It's late and Harry is just getting back from running errands. It's Sunday, so thankfully he doesn't have any work, but he thought his birthday would be a little less hectic and little more relaxed. However, he's not complaining because Louis promised a massage when he gets home. 

Harry opens the door to find most of the lights out and candles spread across the living room. He hesitantly makes his way into the house, scared to breath in fear of a candle falling and setting the whole house on ablaze.

He walks in on Louis frantically pouring spaghetti onto a plate. Harry tries to hold back a laugh as the plan fails miserably and a pile of noodles fall on the plate and the table. Louis huffs and tries to push it all back on the plate. 

"You know you're still banned from the kitchen," Harry teases. Louis jumps and turns. He groans loudly when he sees Harry. Louis' wearing a nice button down shirt and slacks. Oven mitts cover his small hands. His hair is sweaty in the front and Harry assumes it's from running around the house all day trying to make things perfect. 

"You weren't supposed to be home! Surprise?" Louis pathetically shows off the dining table. Harry has to admit, the table is decorated nicely. Louis has set up three candles in the middle of the table and two plates with silverware. In all honesty, Harry's shocked. 

Harry asks, "It's okay, I love it. Kiss?" Louis tells him to wait and hurriedly runs into the kitchen to set down the massive pot. He comes back a moment later, oven mitts forgotten, and gives Harry a quick kiss before gesturing for him to sit. Harry agrees, scared that Louis will threaten him with a pot if he doesn't. 

"It's just spaghetti. I wanted to do something a little more adventurous, but Liam said I would burn the house down. There's no dessert, because I didn't have time. I tried making it special. You're finally 21 and I wanted to do something nice and it's your first birthday since I've met you," Louis explains. Harry sets his hand on top of Louis' and silences him. 

"It's perfect."

~_~_~

By the end of dinner, Harry knows something's wrong. Louis hasn't taken a single bite of his spaghetti and keeps fidgeting. Harry assumes it's because the boy is anxious, but this didn't read like anxiety. Maybe Harry's overlooking things. 

"I'm going to go the toilet," Louis says. He stands and starts towards the hallway. Harry glances at him nervously as the toilet door slams. 

Harry waits a while alone before getting seriously nervous. He knows he shouldn't be, but Louis' been in there for a while now. Harry gets up and tiptoes to the bathroom, cautious of what he'll find. He puts his ear to the door and stops as he hears sobs. 

** *TRIGGER WARNING* **

Harry gently opens the door and pokes his head in. He freezes as he sees Louis with tears down his cheeks. The's boy's shirt is unbuttoned and his back his to the wall. His knees are brought up to his chest and his hands are in his hair. 

"I-I tried-d t-throwing... up, b-but i-i-it didn't... work. I-I feel... sick," Louis hiccups. Harry crouches to the ground and opens his arms to bring Louis in for a hug. 

"What happened? Tell me what's wrong, Louis. Do you have a stomach bug," Harry questions. He moves closer and closer to Louis. He goes to touch him, but Louis flinches. Harry takes his hands back and sits in front of the older boy. 

"N-no. I-I'm just s-so... stressed. I-I know it's... it's just from the-the stress, but-t I feel... gross. My shirt w-was so t-tight and my-y skinnies earlier. I-I could  _feel_ myself in my s-shirt. I-I wanted it-it... out of my stomach. I w-wanted to be thin like-like... you are and just as f-f-fit as Liam, but I'm stuck being fat! E-everyone points out my stomach... t-they called it the  _'Tommo Tummy'..._ l-like it was a-a cool thing. I-I... lost it f-f-for a reason, but now it's-it's... back. I-I... just want to be t-thin like e-everyone else. I'm j-j-just a-a... failure," Louis mumbles. 

Harry's heart drops. He doesn't understand why such a beautiful boy like Louis has so many issues with his appearance. Harry wishes he could show Louis what Harry sees, but he knows it's impossible. No amount of words could describe how much Harry loves Louis. It's silly really, that Harry admits so casually that he loves Louis and has since he was younger. He means it now. He loves  _loves_  Louis. 

"Lou, I know you're going through a really stressful time and I'm really sorry that you feel this way. Did you know that my favorite thing about you is your eyes? When I first saw you I was drawn to your eyes. Then, I heard you laugh. You're laugh is amazing. I could listen to you laugh for ages," Harry starts. He moves slowly so that he's sitting directly next to Louis. 

"Hm, I also love your smile. You always light up a room when you smile. It's like your smile is the sun. After you finished smiling and laughing and having gorgeous eyes I noticed your incredible thighs. You could kill a man with those and that's a good thing. I can sit on your lap better and I can have something to work with when I want to be a tease," Harry says. He glances down at Louis, who's looking up now. 

Harry notices the red around the boy's eyes and the tear stains down his cheeks. The boy's shirt is sweaty from the room or maybe the stressful situation. 

"And I love your body because it's you, and I love you," Harry says simply. 

"T-thank you," Louis mutters. 


	42. Chapter 42

**EleanorJ92:**

**U dressed?**

**Harry_Styles:**

**Yea?**

**EleanorJ92:**

**R u doing anything?**

**Harry_Styles:**

**No?**

**EleanorJ92:**

**Good Im gonna pick u up in 10.**

**Harry_Styles:**

**For what?**

**EleanorJ92:**

**Youll see**

Harry confusingly stands and gathers up his wallet and house keys. He has no clue what Eleanor is making him participate in, but he prays it isn't going to be embarrassing. It's a Saturday, so Harry doesn't have work and he would've just sat home all day bored anyway. He figures he may as well get out of the house. 

He hears the car outside and a moment later he gets a message from Eleanor saying she's hear. Harry hurries outside and climbs into the older girl's car. 

"Where are we going," Harry asks. He hopes that Eleanor will explain in farther detail what they're doing now that Harry can't really get out of it. 

She answers simply, "Girls' night." Harry raises an eyebrow and glances at her quickly. 

"Okay, but I'm not a girl and it's midday," Harry states. Eleanor rolls her eyes and turns into a cafe parking lot. 

"I  _know_  it's not night and you're not a girl. Nobody had time in the evening, so we decided on meeting up midday instead. This is a get together for all the 1D girlfriends and I figured since you're technically dating Louis you should be involved. Besides, we're kind of friends now and you're nice company," Eleanor explains.

"What are you going to tell them? They don't know about me and Louis. I'm just showing up to...  show up?" Eleanor shrugs and grabs her purse from the backseat. He can already tell this isn't going to be a great idea.

Harry follows her out of the car and into the small cafe. He already spots Sophia and Perrie in the back of the cafe laughing. Harry shoves his hands into his pockets as he follows Eleanor to the table. The girls stand and give Eleanor a quick hug before sitting back down. 

"I didn't know we were bringing guests," Sophia says. Her tone is sharp and judging and Harry immediately wants to run out. He's only talked to her a few times and every time she was a little standoffish, but he didn't think she was rude. 

"Sophia, be nice. Nobody said anything to you when you brought your cousin last month," Perrie snaps. Harry's eyes widen at Perrie's harsher tone. He knew her from Little Mix (his favorite girl's band) and has only heard her raise her voice a few times. 

 

"Whatever," Sophia grumbles. Harry shrugs it off and turns back to Perrie and Eleanor. Perrie leans forward as if she's about to tell them something.

"I may not even be coming to girls' night anymore," Perrie complains. Eleanor gasps dramatically. Harry's shocked. Zayn isn't breaking up with Perrie, right? Harry thought Perrie was Zayn's beard, but he'll admit the pair was cute (and definitely more real than Eleanor and Louis).

"What! Why," Eleanor sighs. Harry can understand why she would be so upset over it. Not only is she losing one of her best friends, but she's also losing one of the only people in her life that understands what she's going through. Not a lot of people know what it's like to be dating one of the biggest pop singers in the world.

"Turns out Zayn fancies Louis and has ever since X-Factor. From what I've heard, Zayn's fancied him even when Liam and Zayn were together. I don't really know what happened, but turns out it's still a thing. I figure it won't be long before I'm kicked to the curb," Perrie explains.

Wait, Zayn fancies Louis? Did Louis fancy Zayn back? Does this mean that Zouis was a real thing at some point? Did Harry delete his Zouis account for no reason? Are Zayn and Louis in a secret gay relationship?

 _'Of course Zayn and Louis aren't in a secret gay relationship, because Harry and Louis are in a secret gay relationship'_ , Harry tells himself. He sucks in a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

"I doubt Zayn'll kick you to the curb. He's a semi decent guy once you scrub away the homophobia," Eleanor reassures. Harry doesn't quite know if he agrees or not, but he decides it's probably best to stay out of it.

"In more interesting news: I slept with this girl las night. I swear she's the best lay I've ever had. Liam's good, I'll give him that, but this girl was amazing! She did things I didn't even know you could do, but damn she sure did manage to do it," Sophia sighs. The other girls lean in and nod along.

Harry's, once again, shocked. Sophia's dating Liam! What is Liam going to say when he figures out his girlfriend is sleeping with someone else? He knows that Louis and Liam had that thing going on for a while, but he figured Liam already cleared the air. Is Sophia getting revenge on Liam for cheating on her? Harry's getting a headache from all the new information he's received. 

"What's she like? Is she hot? Details, Sophia, details," Eleanor whisper-yells. Harry can't believe this. She's taken! Are they endorsing cheating?

"I'm sorry, but aren't you and Liam dating," Harry asks. Sophia rolls her eyes, realizing now that she'll have to explain everything. Harry feels bad for it, but he's really confused.

"Liam and I are in an open relationship. You see, we're both bisexual—well he's pansexual, but that's beside the point—and we both agreed we liked sleeping with the same sex. So, we decided that if we wanted to sleep with people of the same sex we could. I can sleep with a girl and Liam can sleep with a guy and we're okay with it. However, if we want to sleep with someone of the opposite sex we sleep with each other. Frankly, I was surprised that Liam is just now sleeping with Louis. Louis' hot as hell," Sophia explains. Perrie and Eleanor laugh along with Sophia.

This is why Harry can't date girls.


	43. Chapter 43

It's been nearly a month since Harry walked in on Louis in the bathroom and Louis can admit that he does feel better knowing someone is rooting for him. It's also nearly a month into their fifth tour, On the Road Again, and Louis feels more confident. So many things have changed since the last tour they went on. Louis feels more prepared for the fatigue and insecurities he knows is right around the corner. 

Louis looks down from the plane and sees Asia. Just from looking he wouldn't have been able to tell you it's Asia, but Liam keeps talking about the Chinese and Japanese crowds right in front of him. He sighs loudly thinking about how many people are down there. ' _The continent is huge'_ , Louis thinks. He averts his eyes to his phone as it dings. 

** Harry  **

_Are you sure?_

** You **

_no_

** Harry  **

_Then why do u want to do it?_

** You **

_Bc Im sick of lying to them_

**Harry**

_Ill be okay with whatever you want to do. If you want to come out then go ahead and tell them. Im sure they wont judge you or be negative and if they are then they suck_

** You **

_Reassuring._

** Harry  **

_Remember that no matter how bad it goes I still love you._

** You  **

_Love you too. Ill text you and tell you how it went._

Louis sucks in a deep breath, figuring now is probably the best time to get this over with. He wishes he could just transfer the information to them and not have to actually tell them. Of course, Liam will have no problem with it and he's sure Niall will be on board. The only one he's worried about is Zayn. 

"Guys, can I talk to you," Louis asks. Niall is sitting next to Liam and in front of Niall is Zayn. Liam sits in front of Louis and offers him a comforting nod. Niall gives him a worried expression, but Louis pays it no mind. 

"Sure, Louis, you can tell us anything," Niall reassures him. It does nothing to help the butterflies in Louis' stomach. These boys are his life. He spends every waking minute with these people.  If they don't approve his whole life is ruined. _'Calm down, it's only reveling his deepest and most personal secret to the people he trusts the most in his life who could make or break the rest of his career. No big deal,'_  Louis thinks. His words don't calm him down any. 

"Are you dying? It wouldn't be good for the band if you died," Zayn explains. Louis finds this comment to be quite ironic considering Zayn's probably plotted his murder multiple times by now. He shrugs it off and continues. 

Louis has no clue what to say. Does he lead up to the big reveal like they do on TV networks? No, that's not like him at all. Does he just kind of explain that guys are nice and that he broke up with Eleanor? No, because then that'll be like telling them that he wants to experiment with guys. Does he just say that he broke up with Eleanor and leave it at that? No, the whole point of this is to tell them that he's with Harry. Does he just tell them that he's with Harry now and that Eleanor is a thing of the past? No, because that'll raise so many questions. 

He blurts, "I'm gay!" Louis' eyes widen at what he says and he realizes he just ruined whatever slim chance he had to ease them into this. Now, all of them probably think Louis' gone mad. He's already starting to plan his funeral when Niall speaks up. 

"That's it? I mean congrats on coming out, that must've been hard to muster up, but you had us all thinking you were going to die," Niall explains. Louis lets out a breath he didn't realize he was holding after Niall finishes. So Niall's on board. That makes him feel a little better. He knows Liam's on board since he's seen the boy's dick a few times. He turns to Zayn and notices the boy's emotionless face. 

"And I'm seeing someone, well have been. We're dating really. Not really. We are. We've been dating for nine months and it's getting serious. I'm mean, it's already been serious, but it's serious enough for me to tell you guys about it," Louis starts. He can already tell he's failing at this. Liam looks interested enough (probably been dying to know who it is since Louis told him he was seeing someone), but Zayn looks like he'd rather die than be there. 

"Who is it! Do we know him," Liam asks excitedly. Niall looks about as intrigued as Liam which gives Louis a sense of hope. Louis finds himself smiling at the thought of the other boy. 

Harry. The name made him melt. The boy's green eyes and dimples are to die for. His hair's so long now that it's gone past his shoulders. His lips are soft and cute and Louis can spend hours just looking at them or, better yet, kissing them. Harry's laugh can make anyone smile and his voice sends butterflies in Louis' stomach. He can't believe he can call the boy his. To think, he used to hate the idea of him. Now, he loves him. 

He's watched the boy grow in the last year that they've known each other. Louis can't believe it's been nearly a year. The boys met in July, but their parents met in June. It's May now, so yes, nearly a year. 

"Harry," Louis sighs. It feels nice being able to claim Harry for the first time. He's said it in the safety of his own home and to his mother, but never to other people. The words feel nice rolling off his tongue. "I'm dating Harry," He confirms. He wants to say it over and over again. 

Niall can't stop congratulating them and Liam huffs angrily. He shouts about how he should've caught them sooner and that they just slipped under his nose. However, Louis' more focused on his ex-best friend. Zayn looks at Louis, with a deep hatred in his eyes. Louis' never felt so unnerved under another person's gaze before. 

"I can't believe you. I-I don't know if I'm more upset that you've been gay this whole time or that you've been so oblivious to your surroundings you never realized that I've been in love with you since X-Factor," Zayn says. It's almost a whisper. The few sentences are so quiet that Louis hardly realizes something's been said, but it's too late. He did hear. 

Zayn stands and storms off into the bathroom just as the pilot announces they'll be landing soon. Louis' head is buzzing and he feels dizzy. Zayn's been in love with him since X-Factor? They were close then, Louis'll admit, but what about the last few years when Zayn's been a dick? 

Niall offers Louis a sad look before following Zayn into another room. Louis hears loud arguing, but isn't focused enough to hear what's being said. Liam moves to where Niall was and offers Louis' leg a comforting pat.


	44. Chapter 44

Zayn paces back and forth. He knows he's fucked up. He knows he shouldn't have said anything to Louis. He should've just nodded and pretended to be happy for the boy, but it's too late. He already revealed his deepest and best-kept secret. 

"I've ruined everything," Zayn mutters. He pulls his hands through his hair anxiously as Niall tries to call him down. He doesn't hear a thing Niall's saying, but just his talking stresses Zayn out even more. 

"It'll be okay, Zayn. Louis' an understanding person. Nothing's going to change. I'm sure if you just sit down and talk things out he'll understand," Niall explains. Zayn turns to him. He can imagine how distraught he must look. His hair is a mess and probably all over the place from pulling his hands through it. Tears stain his olive cheeks and his eyes have a bright red ring around them. He's cried enough to know what he must look like.

"No, Niall! Nothing's ever going to be the same! I've been an ass about this for years,  _fucking years_ , and now he's actually gay! I've-I've lost him forever now! I've made him cry so many times, Niall, so no there's no  _fucking_  way that things are just going to magically be the same. I ruined that years ago," Zayn snaps angrily. He turns away from Niall. He knows he probably hurt the boy, but he can't be bothered. 

Niall has been his best friend though everything. He's the only person that knows the real Zayn. He used to think Louis would be that person for him, but circumstances have pushed them apart. He wishes things could've been different between them. 

"Okay-okay. I'm just trying to help. I'm going to go and make sure Louis' okay," Niall whispers. Zayn turns around quickly, watching as his friend leaves the small room. Great. Now he's ruined things with Niall too. How many friendships will he ruin on this plane?

Zayn's mind starts to go crazy thinking about Louis. God he's so perfect. Niall likes to tell him differently, but Zayn knows Louis' out of his league. The fans like to put Louis down for being the ugliest in the band, but Zayn doesn't see it at all. He's so unique and amazing. Louis' friendly and kind and helpful and, yes, understanding. Zayn knows the only reason why they're even semi-friends is because Louis sees that Zayn doesn't mean the things he says. 

Of course, how could Zayn be homophobic? He's been in love with a guy for the last few years of his life. He's tried nearly everything to make his feelings go away. He's been told numerous times by management that those kind of feelings aren't tolerated in Zayn's industry. The data doesn't lie: gay doesn't sell. Zayn can't name you one gay boyband member that's really made it. 

When management found out fans shipped Zayn and Louis, Zayn figured he may have a chance. If the fans think that Louis is secretly in love with Zayn, that means he probably is, right? How wrong could he be. Management pushed them apart.  They aren't allowed to sit together or talk or do anything around each other because it could be seen as them being in love.

So, Zayn figured that he had to get over his feelings for Louis. First, he tried distracting himself. He got together with Liam, who was constantly horny and loved attention. Zayn will even admit to falling for Liam, but he was never Louis. Every time they would be together Zayn would imagine being held by Louis instead. Soon, the guilt overtook him and he dumped the boy. He knows he may have hurt Liam, but it was better then leading him on. 

Niall walked in on Zayn crying afterwards. Zayn poured out his feelings and thoughts to the boy. It was the beginning of their friendship. Niall sat and held Zayn as he cried. He stood by Zayn while he secretly fell deeper in love with a boy he couldn't have. 

Then, he tried to make the feelings go away by being homophobic. He figured that if he hated himself enough for being gay then the feelings would disappear. This logic didn't get him very far. Louis hated him even more and he ruined what little friendship he had left. 

Then there was Harry. Zayn's hated him since he met him. Not because he ran the stupid fan account, but because he got Louis. Zayn could tell from the beginning the two would end up together. His loathing for the boy started there. 

Of course Louis would fall for Harry. He was more attractive than Zayn was in nearly every way. His hands were softer and milker. Zayn's dark and calloused hands had nothing to compare to. Harry's eyes were sparkling green whereas Zayn's could be compared to dirt. Harry showed Louis kindness when Zayn only showed him hardness. It was an obvious choice.

So, Zayn decided to be nice to Harry. Maybe if Zayn was nicer to Harry, Harry would put in a good note to Louis. Of course, now it's too late. Louis' in love with the boy and Zayn doesn't stand a chance. 

He can't continue like this. He shouldn't have to pretend to be someone he's not anymore and it's tiresome having to do so. Why does Louis get to have the perfect relationship while Zayn gets shit? Zayn knows he's a horrid person, but even horrid people deserve happiness, right? 

Truth be told: Zayn couldn't be happy. Not if this continued. He'll never be happy seeing the two boys together and knowing Zayn can never compete. Zayn pulls out his phone, knowing that he shouldn't be the only one feeling so lost and broken-hearted. He dials the number he has nearly memorized. The voice that greets him is posh and familiar from years of mentoring. 

"Simon, I'm glad I got hold of you.  I have two  _very_  important things to share with you. Firstly, I'm leaving the band. I can't stand this any longer.  Secondly, Louis' in a secret gay relationship with Harry Styles."

If Zayn can't be happy, Harry can't be either. 


	45. Chapter 45

** Simon Cuntall  **

_There's been a flight set up for you on the 25. You'll be coming to LA and we'll be having a discussion._

** You **

_What did I do?_

**Simon Cuntall**

_You'll be in LA for those three day break. We'll see you in five days._

** You **

_Ok._

Louis can't believe this. The boys have been looking forward to their three day break in between Africa and Asia and now he's needed in LA? He has no clue what he's done to piss off Simon this much. He tries to think back to something causing him to get called in and only one thing comes to mind. 

Zayn. 

He told Zayn that Harry and him are dating, but would Zayn  _really_  go to the extent of telling Simon? Louis didn't think Zayn would be that big an asshole to sell him out like that, but as of late Louis has no way of predicting Zayn.  

~_~_~

"Remember, nod and smile and don't say anything you'll regret," Liam reminds. Louis rolls his eyes as the rest of the boys get off the plane. The boys are spending time South Africa, while Louis' being hauled away. 

He's managed to ignore Zayn for the majority of the past fives days. They both know that Zayn's the one that sold him out, but neither want to bring it up. Louis figures passive aggressive glaring will suffice until he finds out how badly he's going to be punished. 

The next 21 hours are excruciating. He keeps imagining the things Simon could possible do to him for being with Harry. He saw how bad it got when people were speculating that Zayn and him were in a relationship, but now that there really is a secret gay relationship? 

The sun's bright in LA when he lands and he throws on a pair of shades as a black SUV picks him up from the airport. The driver gives him a sympathetic look as he's driven to Simon's house. His leg hasn't stopped shaking since he's gotten off the plane. 

He tries to calm himself down by reminding himself that they can't touch Harry.  _'Harry didn't sign a contract. He's not legally bound.'_ As long as Simon doesn't touch Harry, Louis' fine with anything. Simon can't throw Louis out of the band because they're making too much money. They can completely ruin Louis' image, but they've been doing that for the last five years anyway. 

Louis thanks the driver as he slips out the vehicle and makes his way to Simon's mansion. The place has always intimidated Louis, but now the walls look even more looming. Someone's at the front door to escort Louis to Simon's private office. This must be a big deal. Normally, Simon lets the boys find their own way. 

The escort opens the large, brown doors and reveals Simon. He sits at his desk, overlooking the garden. Louis hesitantly moves into the office and takes a seat in one of the chairs. Simon waits until the door is closed to start speaking. 

After a moment of silence Simon questions, "Louis, what have I told you about dating since day 1?" Louis looks down at his hands and decides he's going to not show weakness. Simon only gets more prideful around fearful people. Not matter what, Louis refuses to give him the satisfaction.  

"I can date anyone in the world as long as they're female," Louis replies. Liam tried fighting the rule when they first got put together (at this time he was he already comfortable with his sexuality), but he didn't have the upper leg and the whole thing fell through. 

"Exactly. Now, can you tell me why I got a call saying you're seeing a, Harry Styles?" Louis sucks in a breath. He was hoping Zayn wouldn't have gone that far. Zayn could've just said Louis' dating a boy and leave it at that or out Louis by saying he's gay. Telling Simon his full name? That's an all time low. Louis reminds himself to punch Zayn the next time he sees him. 

"Probably because I am," Louis grumbles. He smacks himself in his head. His mouth always seems to run faster than his brain, especially when talking to Simon. His mouth is what gets him in a majority of the trouble he gets into. 

"Call him," Simon hisses. Louis' face blanks. No.  _No, no, no._ His worse nightmare has been brought to life. Louis slowly brings out his phone and scrolls to Harry's contact. The green heart by Harry's name makes Louis' heart drop farther. Harry deserves so much better than this. He silently promises himself to do whatever he can to make up for the shitty start to their relationship.

Louis presses the call button and brings it to his ear. "Speaker," Simon hisses. Louis gulps and sets the phone on the table and touches the 'speaker' button. He can't believe this is happening. 

_"Hey Love, can I get back to you in a bit? I'm in the middle of doing somethi--."_

"I'm with Simon. He's on speaker," Louis blurts. He hears the silence on the other end of the phone. Simon leans over his desk to be closer to the phone. Louis immediately gets defensive and wants to snatch the phone and take it far, far away from the sick man in front of him. 

 _"Oh. Okay. What's the matter,"_  Harry asks. Louis' heart shatters. The boy's voice is the shakiest he's ever heard. He wishes he can give Harry a reassuring hug and tell him that everything's going to be alright, but he's afraid he can't do that. There's no way this is going to ever end well for them. 

"Hello, Harry. I'm Simon Cowell and you probably know that I'm one of Louis' mentor. Let me cut to the chase, with fame comes rules, son,  and one of the many rules Louis has to follow is that he can't be dating boys. Do you see where I'm going with this," Simon starts. 

 _"Yes sir,"_ Harry hums. 

"Well, tomorrow we're doing to be having a meeting to discuss our course of action. You'll be needed at this meeting. My people will get in touch with you to send you more information. I'm going to assume this is a good working number for you," Simon asks. 

 _"Yes, sir,"_ Harry confirms.

"Wonderful. It'll be a... pleasure meeting you tomorrow, Mr. Styles." Simon leans back in his chair, signaling that he's done with the conversation. Louis takes the call off speaker and presses the phone to his ear. 

"I'm going to be home right after this, okay? Everything's going to be alright, Love, I'll see you soon. I love you," Louis whispers. He doesn't  believe that everything's going to be okay, but he doesn't want Harry to worry. 

 _"Okay, I love you. Please be safe,"_  Harry mumbles. Louis hangs up. Simon tells him to have Eleanor here as well, so they can figure this out together. After a while, Louis' dismissed. 

Once he's out he sees five missed messages from Liam. 

** Payno  **

_Did you know? Niall didn't and neither did I._

** Payno  **

_Check the facebook_

** Payno  **

_Louis whats going on?_

** Payno  **

_Did Simon say anything to you?_

** Payno  **

_Louisss_

Louis hurriedly pulls out his phone and logs into the official One Direction Facebook account. He sees a long post and raises an eyebrow in confusion. 

_After five incredible years Zayn Malik has decided to leave One Direction. Niall, Liam and Louis will continue as a three-piece and look forward to the forthcoming concerts of their world tour and recording their fifth album, due to be released later this year._

_Zayn says: "My life with One Direction has been more than I could ever have imagined. But, after five years, I feel like it is now the right time for me to leave the band. I'd like to apologise to the fans if I've let anyone down, but I have to do what feels right in my heart. I am leaving because I want to be a normal 22-year-old who is able to relax and have some private time out of the spotlight. I know I have three friends for life in Louis, Liam, and Niall. I know they will continue to be the best band in the world."_

_One Direction say: "We're really sad to see Zayn go, but we totally respect his decision and send him all our love for the future. The past five years have been beyond amazing, we've gone through so much together, so we will always be friends. The three of us will now continue. We're looking forward to recording the new album and seeing all the fans on the next stage of the world tour."_

_Simon Cowell says: "I would like to say thank you to Zayn for everything he has done for One Direction. Since I first met Zayn in 2010, I have grown very, very fond - and immensely proud - of him. I have seen him grow in confidence and I am truly sorry to see him leave. As for One Direction, fans can rest assured that Niall, Liam, and Louis are hugely excited about the future of the band."_

Zayn... left. 


	46. Chapter 46

Harry stands outside of the mansion anxiously. He's too scared to step inside, but so is Louis. He reaches out and tangles Louis' hand in his own desperately. He can't do this. How is he supposed to walk into  _Simon Cowell's_  house and talk about this? Getting used to the idea of Louis Tomlinson being his boyfriend is already mind blowing enough, but the fact that Simon Cowell is inside ready to shred Harry to pieces? That's a whole different thing.

"It'll be okay, you didn't sign a contract. You're not legally bound," Louis reassures him. After Louis got home the following night Harry sobbed. They spent an hour talking about what was probably going to happen and how they would be able to work with it. Harry's so nervous, however, that all the preparation leaves him.

They open the door, hand-in-hand, and make the journey to Simon's office. The tall ceilings and empty hallways makes Harry feel empty and so alone. He feels like passing out. This is a bad idea. He wants to tell Louis that they should leave, but it's too late. They're already there.

Louis lets go of Harry's hand to open the door, revealing Simon Cowell. Harry sucks in a deep breath. What sits before him is a man that has ruined lives, but Harry can't see that. The only thing Harry sees when looking at Simon is a middle-aged dad. He isn't as intimating as he seems on X-Factor, which seriously helps with Harry's nerves.

"Welcome, hello, you must be the infamous Harry Styles. It's a pleasure to meet you," Simon introduces. Harry gives him a small nod as he follows Louis to a large leather chair sat at Simon's desk.

Eleanor is already sitting in one of the chairs. One of her legs is crossed over the other and she gives the pair a worried look. Her brown hair is pulled into a messy ponytail at the top of her head. Eleanor's wearing a white blouse and a pair of black slacks. Harry looks down and feels under-dressed in his black skinnies and button down. Should he have worn a tie?

"You as well, Sir. Thank you for having us," Harry musters. Eleanor shoots him a small smile and he breathes deeply _. 'There are at least two people here that have Harry's back'_ , he reminds himself.

"Well, we all obviously know what we're doing here, so let's get to it. Louis' dating Harry. That's obviously a clear violation of your contract. Our team has come up with a few plans to solve this small problem before it becomes an even bigger issue, do you follow," Simon starts.

Louis reaches across his chair and grabs Harry's hand again. Harry can tell Louis' probably more nervous than Harry is. Louis' whole career is on the line here. The worst thing that could happen to Harry is that he's told they can't be together anymore. Harry will still have his job working for James. Louis, on the other hand, could lose his job. For Louis, the stakes are set much higher.

"Here's how this is going to go. Eleanor and Louis will still be together publicly. You'll have to go out together and be seen as a couple, maybe do a few pap walks. We'll schedule those and tell you where to be and when. We highly advice Louis to stop seeing Harry, however we can't control what you do behind closed doors. We are saying that your public appearances stay limited," Simon explains.

"What if I say no," Eleanor counters. Simon leans back in his chair and smiles. He pulls out two packets of paper and sets them on his desk along with two pens.

"I was hoping you'd say that. We have contracts here. Now, Eleanor, you  _can_ walk out right now and never look back. However, if you do that we'll find you a replacement and we will make sure your replacement isn't that great a person. Louis'll have a public girlfriend and that's that. With this contract, we're offering to pay you to be Louis' public girlfriend. You'll be getting a pay check and be saving Louis' reputation from whatever girl we find desperate enough for money," He says.

Harry gulps. Eleanor wouldn't walk out, would she? It'll be easier for her to just leave. She already has a job and a house. Why would she put the extra effort into a second job? Besides, signing a contract is legally binding, what if she finds a boyfriend later down the road? Harry knows Eleanor's a kind person, but is she kind enough to give up the next couple years of her life?

"Harry, we heard from some reliable sources that you're a very good singer. We've managed to find some tapes of you singing and agree with that statement. You're so good, in fact, that we're offering to sign you to our company."

The world slows as Simon finishes his sentence. Harry could be signed to the same company as One Direction? He's always dreamed of becoming a big-time singer and now it's being offered to him by Simon Cowell himself?

"The first contract is only for a year, just so we can get to know you and see how things work out. You can release a few singles and do some recording and if the public likes you we can sign you on for much more. If you're good enough, you could even have your own tour," Simon explains. A tour? How can he say no? "I'll give you some privacy to discuss your options."

Simon steps out of his office, leaving the three alone to talk.

"No, absolutely not. Harry, you can't sign with them! You heard what they just threatened to do to me! You can't be bound to them," Louis yelps. Harry can see that the boy is fighting back tears.

"This is my dream. These people are offering to help me achieve my dream," Harry mumbles quietly. He still can't get this idea through his head. They want Harry. How can he say no?

"I'm with Louis on this one, Harry. I'm your friend now and as your friend I'm agreeing that this is a terrible decision," Eleanor chimes in. Harry gives her a pointed look.

"Are you signing your contract," Harry asks. She stops for a moment and looks away defeated. Of course, she will. Harry didn't see it before, but she's Louis' best friend. She'll do whatever she can to protect Louis and if that involves signing a contract then she'll do it.

"That's different and you know it. They've just threatened to set Louis up with a terrible person to ruin his image. Why would you want those kinds of people to sign you on?" Eleanor asks. Harry knows she's trying to protect Harry here too.

Harry knows how terrible Modest is. He's seen what they've done and how hard they've pushed the other boys. He's heard Louis complain about how tired he is and how he needs a break. They signed a longer contract though. This is only for a year. Harry will only be with them for a year. Right?

Maybe this isn't a good idea. He knows how they treat LGBT acts. Simon said himself the boys can date  _anyone_  as long as they're not a guy. Why would this change for Harry?

"As soon as you sign that paper they'll shove you back in the closet. One of the things I love the most about you is you're freedom, Harry. You're so open about yourself and I don't want to see you lose that," Louis argues.

"Louis, I'm already out. I have hundreds of thousands of people on Instagram that know that I'm gay. Those followers will most likely become people that listen to my music. How can they shove me in a closet, if all my followers know I'm gay already?" Harry mutters. The plan makes sense to Harry. They can't push a heterosexual narrative on Harry if he's already out to thousands. It wouldn't make sense. Louis and Eleanor, however, don't seem as convinced.

"They'll do whatever they can to change that. This is a bad idea and we all know it. I know this is your dream, but not with them, please," Louis pleas. Harry's mind is racing trying to figure out if this is what he wants to do or not. They're terrible people, but this is his dream. He wants to be someone people look up to and he wants to be an example, but how can he do that through Modest? He wants to talk about kindness and push people to be their true selves, but can he be his true self with a boss like Simon Cowell?

Speaking of, the door opens and he reappears inside the room. He takes a seat at his desk and crosses his arms across his chest.

"I hope you had some time to think things over. I want to address one last concern of mine before we talk about contracts. Harry, you're going to have to move out. I don't know if this would've affected your contract decision, so I want to make it clear that either way you and Louis will no longer be roommates," Simon explains. Harry looks at Louis. How will he live without Louis? He's so used to the other boy being around. He pushes the thought aside. He has bigger fish to fry.

"Now, Harry, have you come to a decision," Simon asks.

Harry weighs his options. If he signs the contract he'll be giving up his free will and personality for his dream. He'll also lose any chance of ever being seen with Louis publicly. If he doesn't sign the contract he keeps his free will and gets to be seen with Louis from time-to-time, but he may never get a chance like this again.

"Yes sir, I think I have."


	47. Chapter 47

Harry sighs and glances out of the window of Eleanor's car. She agreed to drop him off at his house--old house now, but whatever--since Louis said he needed to go talk to Liam for a bit. Harry didn't mind going home with Eleanor. He's grown fond of her over the last couple of months. 

"Don't tell Louis I said this, but I kind of get why you signed the contract," Eleanor sighs. Harry's heart races. The contract, right. He agreed to sign the contract with Simon Cowell after Louis' lawyers looked over it. Harry didn't try to understand everything Louis was saying with the lawyers. All he really caught was that Louis wanted them to look it over before Harry signed anything. 

"I'm sure Louis' going to be pretty upset, but it's my dream and it's only a year. If I make it then I can go and sign with another company after the years up," Harry explains. It makes perfect sense to him, even with the risks. He wishes he could've gotten Louis on board with it, but he'll have to explain everything after Louis' calmed down. 

"I'm sorry that Simon kicked you out of Louis' house. If you want, you can be my roommate for a while. I have a spare room since my last roommate moved out and it gets kind of lonely at nights," Eleanor offers. Harry looks at her like she's lost her mind. Is she serious? 

"Really? I don't want to cause too much trouble," Harry starts. 

"It's nothing really! I have the spare room and it's get lonely. Besides, I feel bad about all of this," Eleanor explains. Harry can't believe she'd do something like that for him. He reaches over and gives her a quick hug. He's been anxious regarding where he'd go ever since Simon brought it up and for her to offer something like this makes Harry's life so much easier. 

Harry thanks Eleanor one last time before leaving her car and entering Louis' house. He kicks off his shoes and plops on the couch, deciding that he'd wait on Louis before they started to pack Harry up. Simon was very clear about Harry moving out and as much the pair despise it they know they have to do it. 

~_~_~

It's nearly midnight and Harry paces through the house anxiously. It's been nearly six hours since he's last heard from Louis. He's texted and called the boy numerous times and even called Liam to see if he knows where Louis could be. 

"He's fine, he's probably just going to be a little bit longer," Harry whispers to himself. Normally, Louis sends Harry a message if he'll be out late for whatever reason, but there's been no text or call. Harry tried distracting himself with Netflix, but even that didn't calm him any. 

He hears the door open and turns abruptly to see Louis standing at the front door. Harry sighs loudly, wanting to cry as he nearly runs forward and tackles the boy in a hug. 

"Eh, what's all the hugs for! Shouldn't ya be in bed. It's _way_  past your bed time," Louis jokes. Harry catches a smell of Louis' jacket and backs away slowly. His eyebrows knit together as he rakes his eyes over Louis' figure. 

"Have you been drinking," Harry asks quietly. Louis looks down and then sniffs himself. 

"What's it to you," Louis demands. Harry immediately perks up at Louis' harsher tone. Louis looks at Harry for a moment before busting out laughing. Harry sucks in a deep breath. The reality of the situation hits him and he can't believe what Louis' gone and done. 

"You're drunk," Harry states. Louis crosses his arms across his chest. 

"I'm Louis, actually," Louis counters. "Besides, I only had... wait, only a few drinks." Harry looks at the boy and immediately knows that he's had more then a few drinks. 

A thought crosses Harry's mind that hasn't before. Louis took the car out and made Harry ride with Eleanor. Harry's heart drops as he realises that Louis had to get home somehow. He prays that Louis was sober enough to catch an Uber instead of driving himself. 

"Louis, please tell me that you didn't drive here," Harry asks. Louis looks at him for a second before responding. 

"I'm not stupid. I walked," Louis explains. He sounds the most sober he has all night. The sheer relief Harry feels is nearly enough for him to forgive the boy until what he says after finally processes. 

"You  _walked_? Louis you're supposed to be shaping up your act! Simon just had to fly you out in the middle of your tour and you go out and get drunk and then _walk_ home! Never mind that you didn't text me for hours! I was worried sick about you! You could've been dead for all I know, but you were too busy partying to even text me you were out! God, Louis, that's just  _stupid_ ," Harry shouts. Louis groans loudly and looks up at the ceiling. 

"Shaping up my ass! Simon can suck my left fucking nut. I was too busy getting drunk to text you, but you wouldn't know that feeling. You're making my fucking head hurt with all this fucking shouting," Louis shouts. He motions towards his head and turns towards the couch to sit. Harry's fuming. He was too busy to text him? That's his big excuse? 

"My head has been hurting too after imaging all the ways you could've been dead! A simple text back would've been fine. I don't care what you send as long as you send something! You had me worried  _sick,_ " Harry's voice breaks. He's supposed to be mad. Harry can't be mad if he's crying.

Harry's shoulders sag as a few tears trace down his cheeks.  _He's been worried sick_. He's been imaging all the different ways Louis could've been killed. He can't lost Louis. Louis' his rock. It sounds cheesy, but Harry doesn't know what to do without Louis in his life. Even the idea of Louis never coming back sends a shiver down his spine.

Louis glances at Harry and sighs loudly. "If you keep that up I'm gonna start crying too," Louis mutters. Harry takes a seat on the couch next to Louis, not wanting to look at him. He can still remember the last time Louis said that to Harry. 

 _"Did I? Did I... ruin you and Zayn's friendship?"_ Harry wishes he could go back to then. Everything was simpler. His biggest worried then was if Zouis was real and if Louis hated him for it. He still lived with his mother in his childhood home and was still attending Uni. Now, he had to worry about contracts and public appearances. It's exhausting and he just wants everything to be easy again.

They sit in silence for a while. Harry continues to let the tears trace his pick cheeks. He doesn't bother trying to wipe them away. There's no point. After a while they stop coming, but neither dare to move.

"I'm sorry... that I can't take you out to dinner or brag about how lucky I am to everyone I meet," Louis starts. His tone is soft and delicate. 

"Louis, you know that's not your fa-," Harry's interrupted by Louis. 

"You deserve... better. You deserve someone who can take you out and... kiss you," Louis huffs. Neither dare look at each other. Harry's scared even the smallest movement will ruin the moment. It's like walking on thin glass overlooking a dark and deep abyss. 

"Come on, Louis you know-," Harry's interrupted again. 

"You deserve better than a drunken apology,  _but_... I'm sorry," Louis finishes. 

They sit a while longer, Louis' words hanging between them. Harry sucks in a deep breath and finally responds quietly. 

"It's okay." 


	48. Chapter 48

Niall follows Liam as he goes to read a few concert signs. Louis and Niall have gotten used to the short intermission over the course of the last few months. Now, it's like a tradition. Niall follows after Liam hoping to find a few funny ones in the process. 

"'Louis, will you pay for my medical school'," Liam reads. Niall looks around hoping to find Louis, but comes back empty-handed. He assumes it's because he's gone off for a wee. He shrugs and keeps looking across the crowds. 

"'I love you more than food'," Niall points out. The girl who holds the sign screams loudly and Niall laughs. He watches as the girls around her start freaking out as well and wave, trying to get his attention. Niall throws them a smile before moving on. 

A bright sign in the back catches his attention. Niall squints and reads, 'Niall you make me Horan-y'. Niall tries to hold back a laugh as he turns to show the sign to his best friend. 

He looks across the stage for a moment, trying to find the raven-haired boy, but comes back short. Niall furrows his eyebrows and starts back towards the center of the stage and stops as he realizes why he can't find Zayn. He's not here. He left. 

Niall wants to sob. Of course. How can he forget? Niall catches sight of Liam making his way back over to him and catches Louis joining them out of the corner of his eye. Niall promises himself he wouldn't break down in the front of the fans. He can't. He sucks in a deep breath. 

"Are you ready to run, South Africa," Niall shouts. The crowd cheers as the music for Ready To Run starts up. Louis begins the song with his verse, which gives Niall time to collect himself before joining Liam and Louis at the chorus. 

~_~_~

"Thank you, Johannesburg! You've been a lovely crowd tonight! We wish you safe travels home! Until next time," Liam shouts. Niall gives a wave to the crowd before following Louis and Liam off stage. 

He feels someone take his microphone and guitar, but he's too emotionally drained to to focus on it. Niall's proper allowed himself to miss Zayn and it's nearly too overwhelming for him to think. He numbly follows the other boys to their dressing room to change out of their concert clothes.

The boys all head to their assigned racks. They've been placed in different corners of the room so they can have their own little space. Niall heads to his corner, trying not to look at Zayn's abandoned rack next to his. Nobody's had the heart to take his clothes away, so they hang on the rack taunting Niall. 

Niall can only help but feel guilty. Zayn is his best friend, so it's Niall responsibility to make sure Zayn's all right. Obviously he's done a pretty shit job at it since he's left. Niall imagines Zayn crying alone in a room and it hurts him. Niall wasn't a good enough friend. Maybe if Niall was good enough Zayn would still be here. 

His heart clenches as thinks about all the fans he'd let down. When Zayn left so many fans resulted to suicide. All those deaths could be pinned to Niall. If Niall worked harder at making sure Zayn was okay maybe those fans wouldn't have done that. The fans need them and Niall let them down. 

He's let everyone down. Niall should've convinced Zayn to talk to Louis years ago when Zayn's feelings first developed. Niall should've talked to Zayn about his feelings more. Niall should've helped Zayn be comfortable in his sexuality. Niall shouldn't have let Zayn treat the other boys like that. Zayn's hurt Liam and Louis and Harry and countless others. So many people are hurting because Niall wasn't a good enough. 

"Hey mate, do you have any--are you crying," Liam asks. Niall whips around and sees Liam and Louis giving him a sad look. Niall wipes at his eyes hurriedly, not wanting them to see him crying. They shouldn't feel guilty about Niall. Niall did this to himself. He should've been better. 

"I'm fine, what's it you need," Niall questions. He hopes Liam doesn't push him into explaining, but he knows that's not what's going to happen. Liam's a prier. He pries into everything. Niall prays Louis keeps Liam from getting too far into it. The chances, however, are slim. 

"No, you're crying. You've got that red ring around your eyes, what's wrong," Liam pushes. Niall huffs loudly. He isn't accepting any kind of guilt from Liam. Niall should've told Liam that Zayn had feelings for Louis. Liam deserved to know that. Instead, Niall sat by and watched Liam get hurt. He justified himself by saying it wasn't his business, but of course it's his business. His friends feelings should be his business. He's failed them all. 

"Just this whole Zayn thing. It's no big deal, really," Niall assures him. Liam's shoulders sag a little and he furrows his eyebrows. 

"Zayn's an asshole. You deserve better," Louis explains. Liam shoots him daggers. Niall slumps his shoulders. Of course Louis would think Zayn's an ass. Zayn was always an ass to Louis. Maybe if Niall had helped more Louis wouldn't see things that way. 

"Don't worry about Zayn. He's really messed up and is taking some time to work on himself. You don't get to blame yourself for that, Niall, I won't let you," Liam tells him. Niall wipes away at a few more stray tears. He wouldn't get it. Liam would never get it. 

"I was his best friend. I should've helped him. I failed," Niall mutters. He can't believe himself. He's failed everyone. There's nobody that Niall hasn't betrayed. 

"You didn't fail anyone. He's... just Zayn. Zayn will figure things out on his own, alright? He needs some space to sort his shit out," Liam explains.

"That and he's a massive ass," Louis says in a sing-songy voice. Liam glares at the older boy again. Niall knows Louis' trying to lighten the mood, but there's some truth behind it. Zayn ratted Louis and Harry out to Simon. Louis has every right to be pissed.

"I should've told you about Louis. I shouldn't have kept that a secret. I'm really sorry, Liam. I thought it would be best if I just stayed out of it, but if I knew how much he had hurt you I wouldn't have let him do it. Louis, I'm really sorry that Zayn outed you to Simon. I didn't think you would ever do that. If it's worth anything, I hope you and Harry are happy together," Niall explains.

Louis catches Niall's eye and thanks him quickly. Niall can't imagine how hard it must be for Louis and Harry. Liam takes a step towards Niall and pulls him into a quick hug. 

"I know you never meant anything from it. I don't blame you, Nialler," Liam reassures. Niall sighs, allowing himself (for the first time ever) to fall apart in front of his best mates. 


	49. Chapter 49

It's April first and any other day Louis would be in the mood for some pranks. He'd trick Liam into eating toothpaste somehow or maybe jump out and scare Niall, but he can't be bothered. Everything's been a drag since Zayn left. Everyone has to work so much harder because the other boy decided he was too good for them. Louis' pissed. 

How come Louis always has to pick up the slack for Zayn? Zayn never gives Louis anything in return except for angry glares and passive aggressive small talk. It's not Louis' fault that he never had feelings for Zayn, but Zayn acts like Louis purposefully did it to hurt Zayn's feelings. Of course Louis would never do something like that. 

Louis pulls out his phone, knowing he'll probably regret this in tomorrow. Now, however, he feels as if the world will crumble if he doesn't. Zayn shouldn't just get a slap on the wrist for leaving behind everything. 

** LouisT91: **

**You're a real ass btw . I wasn't gonna do this, but you've left me no choice . How can you just pack up and leave everything you know behind ? You owe it to the fans to stick around and at least finish up the tour , but you don't even have the respect to do that . I don't think I've ever met anyone as selfish as you.**

Louis feels better after getting it off his chest. He goes to put his phone down, but before he can notices the his message has been seen. Shit. Louis didn't actually think Zayn would open the message. Louis figured Zayn wanted nothing to do with them anymore and would pretend they didn't exist. 

** ZaynMalik: **

**Are you quite done? You don't know shit about what's going on so stop acting like you do. Thanks.**

** LouisT91:  **

**I don't know shit ?!? Are you fucking joking ? You said that you fancied me and then when I didn't like you back you ran off to Simon . You're like a 12 year old on the play ground going to tattle when things don't go your way . Grow the fuck up .**

** ZaynMalik: **

**You don't understand my feelings and you never will. So yea, stop acting as if you know everything. You've been in the dark for years now, may as well just stay there now**

** LouisT91: **

**Your feelings ? What about my feelings ? What about Niall, Liam, Perrie, Lou, and Harry's feelings ? You abandoned us Zayn . You left when things got hard . You stuck your tail between your legs and ran off like the little bitch you are .**

** ZaynMalik: **

**I had to leave! Do you know how hard it is to be the same room as the person your in love with and not be able to do anything?!**

** LouisT91: **

**You think you're SO special bc you have to keep your feelings hidden** **. wow you're such a role model**   **. Thanks to you Harry and I'll never get out of the closet .**

** ZaynMalik: **

**I couldn't be happy in the band! I haven't been happy since day 1! You guys always shoot down my ideas or push me out to the side! I've never been you guys equal and you know it! I was never happy! The last 5 years I've put on a smile and pretended to be for the sake of the fans! I'm not the selfish one here and don't ever call me that again. I'm finally taking time for me, to be the real me. I've made some mistakes but selfish is not the word you ever use to describe me**

** LouisT91:  **

**Now you try to be Mr. Humble and do good , huh ? Yea that's just not working right now . You isolated yourself . I tried to be your friend . You're the one that decided he was too good for me . You're the one that decided that being gay was dirty . You're the one that pushed me farther and farther away every single fucking day . You say you love me , but if you really did ur version of love is absolute shit . No wonder Liam and you broke up , poor lad decided he could do better . I'll go ahead and call you whatever the fuck I want .**

** ZaynMalik: **

**I was scared! I was scared of being who I was and I ran from that. That's a mistake that I'll have to pay for over and over again. You can't get mad at me for leaving. This band has brought me wonderful opportunities, but I've never been home in this band. You can say all you want about me, but you and I both know I never belonged there.**

** LouisT91:  **

**You may not have found a home in the band , but the rest of us did . Niall found a home in you and you left him . He blames himself for your leaving . He doesn't deserve that . Perrie found a home in you . Perrie thought she was going to marry you and you abandoned her out of the blue , but there's no surprise there . A break up text is real great, Z, seriously congrats . Liam trusted you too . Liam was in love with you and then you broke up with him for no reason . At least Liam can see now how toxic you are .  Hope you can live with the fact that ur the only one here that's ruined people's lives :** )

** ZaynMalik:  **

**Stay out of my life and my dms. Go back to your own shitty life and stay the fuck out of mine.**


	50. Chapter 50

Harry finds himself, once again, sitting in the uncomfortable leather chair in Simon's office. He got a text earlier that day asking if they could meet up to discuss the contract and some expectations. Harry wasn't in a position to be saying no to Simon since he signed Harry to his label, so he agreed. 

"So, Louis' lawyers went over the contract and agreed that it looked put together and fair. I've got a pen here and have labeled the spots where you need to either sign or initial. I'll give you some time to do that before continuing with the rest of the meeting," Simon explains. 

Harry hesitantly looks down at the sheets of paper. Harry knows he should read over it once again to make sure he's okay with everything in it, but the words go right over his head. He picks up the pen sat next to the papers gingerly and flips through the bundle of papers, signing where ever he needs to. 

Once he's finished Simon takes the stack of papers and moves them closer to him. He gives Harry a small smile before continuing to talk. "So, there are some things that you should be expecting from us. Our main goal is to make music, but we can't make music without you having a name for yourself. One of the things you should expect from us is to get your name out there. I've worked with numerous artists in the past that have achieved great things under this label. We assure you that we will do everything in our power to make 'Harry Styles' a household name." 

Everything hits Harry square in the face and all at once. He's signed with Simon Cowell. This has been a dream of his since he could talk and now it's all coming true. Harry may not like Simon Cowell as a person, but he's an amazing business man. 

"We also expect a few things from you," Simon starts. Harry's stomach drops. He prays that Simon doesn't say that Harry's going back into the closet, however he knows these chances are slim. "We expect for you to be on your very best whenever you're in the public eye. We ask that you don't go to public bars or clubs and that you keep a clean reputation. We haven't found any incriminating photos of you, so we don't think this is going to be a very big problem. 

"Speaking of public images, we will be working on your image in the next couple of weeks. We have a general idea of what we want to sell, however we still need to fine-tune a few things," Simon explains. 

So far, so good. Harry doesn't drink or party a lot anyway, so that won't be a problem. He's nervous about his image. He prays they don't make him out to be someone he's not. He saw the kinds of things they did with One Direction. 

"Now, I know you may be a little biased about us because of everything with you and Louis, but I assure you that we will be managing you very differently than we do with them. When you're selling a band you don't sell them as individuals, you sell them as a group. Each person has to play a very key part in that group. We wanted to sell One Direction to teenage girls and teenage girls like thinking they have a chance with the boys. 

"When we're promoting a solo artist we can play more into their own individuality. Like for you, we are intending on keeping your image very clean-cut. We want to sell you as 'the boy next door', very innocent, very to himself, but a romancer at heart. A guy who you want to bring home to your family and show off. Not someone who's slept around a lot or has been with a lot of people. We also want to keep aspects of your feminine side. We see that you paint your nails and grow out your hair and we want you to keep on doing that because that's you. People like thinking they know you and that'll make the fans think they have a connection with you," Simon explains. 

Harry's taken aback. He's waiting for the massive 'but' to come and ruin everything. So far, though, everything's been good. If Harry hadn't known anything about Simon he'd assume he was a good guy. They're not making Harry change major aspects of who he is. 

"What about Louis? Are you putting me back in the closet like you did with him," Harry asks. He wanted to wait, he really did. He wanted this to go over smoothly and maybe Simon would've talked him into it. Now, he's forced this subject to the forefront.

"Ah, yes, the elephant in the room. No, we aren't putting you back into the closet. However, we're also not going to announce it in anyway. The fans that already know will know and if they don't they don't. We are going to be blacklisting any questions about your sexuality so you don't have to lie about anything." 

No closet? Harry's not sure how to feel. He's not being forced into the closet, so why does he still feel there's a 'but' coming. They're allowing him to be him and it sounds nothing like the people Louis painted them out to be. Maybe Harry's had it wrong the whole time. 

"What about dating? You're not giving me a beard," Harry asks. He wants to know the 'but', there has to be a 'but' here. 

"No, you're not having a beard," Simon starts. Harry could kiss him, he really could. He's not in the closet and he's not going to have a beard and he gets to paint his nails and grow out his hair. 

A moment passes between the two and Harry thinks that the meeting has ended before Simon starts talking, "Mr. Styles, have you heard of a PR stunt?"

This. This is the 'but'. Harry can feel the tension in the room rise as the question slips from Simon. Harry doesn't respond. He feels as if his lips are sewn shut and all the air has been forced from his body.

"A PR stunt is a publicity stunt. We do something to get the public's attention on you. It's been shown as a very crucial part of getting a new artist's name out there. Fortunately for you, we work hand-in-hand with other labels for PR. We have other artists sign contracts with us, agreeing to work with us on PR. We are working in part with another young lady for you. She's a very well-known artist and has worked with us a few times. She had an existing contract with us that fell through, so we're hiring her again to work with you." 

Harry hears the door open and a girl walks in. Harry glances across the girl's face. Her blond hair is styled up into a pony tail and she wears bright red lipstick. Harry always assumed the lipstick was just for show, but she's wearing it now so Harry guesses she must actually like the annoyingly bright color. She wears a simple white shirt and jeans. She slides her Ray Bans to the top of her head and glances across the room. Her eyes fall on Harry's and he notices how icy her blue eyes are. 

"Harry Styles, meet your PR girlfriend: Taylor Swift." 


End file.
